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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS, 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 

CHAMPAIGN,  FEBRUARY,  1891. 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


THE  FRUIT  BARK  BEETLE. 

(Scolytus  rugulosus,  Ratz.) 
ORDER  COLEOPTERA.     FAMILY  SCOLYTID^. 

The  discovery  made  in  June,  1888,  by  an  assistant  of  the  office,  of 
the  occurrence  in  southern  Illinois  of  a  Eu'ropean  fruit-tree  insect  not 
hitherto  known  in  this  state,  and  the  publication  the  following  year  of  an 
article  on  the  subject  in  the  Transactions  of  the  State  Horticultural 
Society,*  seem  to  have  led  to  a  somewhat  general  examination  of  fruit 
trees  thr  oughout  the  region  interested,  with  the  result  to  show  that  this 
insidious  insect  was  not  only  somewhat  widely  distributed,  but  that  it  had 
evidently  been  for  some  years  at  work.  This  fact  became  almost  alarm- 
ingly apparent  at  the  meeting  of  the  State  Horticultural  Society  at  Cairo 
in  Dece  mber,  1890,  when  the  presentation  of  specimens  of  the  injury  and 
a  general  c  omparison  of  experiences  made  the  horticulturists  present 
personally  acquainted  with  this  subject.  A  special  committee  of  the 
Society  was  appointed  there,  which  prepared  resolutions  requesting 
immediate  legislation  for  the  destruction  of  this  insect;  but  on  discussion, 
these  resolutions  were  changed  to  one  of  reference  to  the  State  Ento- 
mologist, with  the  request  that  he  recommend  such  action  concerning  the 
matter  as  he  might  deem  advisable.  Fruit-growers  of  long  experience  in 
that  part  of  the  state  have,  in  fact,  become  apprehensive  of  serious  loss, 
one  going  so  far  as  to  say  that  unless  prompt  and  decisive  action  is  taken, 
every  orchard  in  southern  Illinois  is  doomed.']'  While  these  fears  are 
probably  somewhat  extreme,  as  is  likely  to  be  the  case  on  the  first  dis- 
covery of  a  new  attack,  it  is  evident  that  the  subject  should  receive  imme- 
diate and  thorough-going  investigation,  and  I  prepare  this  article  with  the 

Trans.  111.  Hort.  Soc,  1889  (v.  23),  p.  245. 

tSee  letter  from  Mr.  Theodore    Goodrich  in  Frairii  Farir.tr,  January  10,  1891,  p.  20;  also  in  Orangt 
Judd  Farmer  of  same  date,  p.  28. 


470  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February, 

view  of  presenting  an  exhaustive  summary  of  everything  of  importance 
known  concerning  this  insect  and  its  work,  as  a  basis  for  intelligent 
investigation  and  experiment. 

HISTORY  IN  ILLINOIS. 

The  fruit  bark  beetle  was  first  observed  in  this  state  by  my  assistant, 
Mr.  John  Marten,  June  15,  1888,  while  on  an  entomological  trip  from  the 
office  through  southern  Illinois.  Specimens  of  damaged  plum  twigs  were 
handed  him  by  a  gentleman  at  Albion,  Edwards  county,  who  had  noticed 
an  apparent  blight  of  the  trees  in  his  village  door-yard,  which,  upon 
examination,  seemed  to  be  due  to  insect  ipjury.  The  twigs  were  dried 
and  shriveled  for  six  or  more  inches  from  the  tops,  and  most  of  the  leaves 
had  fallen,  the  remainder  being  withered  and  yellow.  Close  examination 
showed  minute  holes  like  pin  pricks  at  the  bases  of  several  of  the  buds, 
these  leading  into  longitudinal  burrows  about  the  diameter  of  a  pin,  run- 
ning mostly  lengthwise  under  the  bark.  Dead  beetles  found  in  the  bur- 
rows, somewhat  cursorily  examined  by  Mr.  Marten,  were  identified  by 
him  as  the  so-called  "pear  blight  beetle,"  Xyleborus  pyri,  and  so  pub- 
lished in  the  Prairie  Farmer  for  December  15,  1888  (p.  818),  but  a  later 
examination,  made  at  the  office  the  following  spring,  showed  that  the 
beetle  was  Scolytus  rugulosus. 

It  was  next  brought  to  my  attention  by  a  letter  from  Mr.  George  W. 
Endicott,  of  Villa  Ridge,  Pulaski  county,  written  in  response  to  a  cir- 
cular request  to  horticulturists,  issued  February  16,  1889,  for  information 
on  any  subject  in  horticultural  entomology  which  seemed  to  require  fresh 
investigation.  In  this  letter  the  beetle  was  said  to  work  on  the  trunks  of 
wild  goose  and  other  plums  of.  the  Chickasaw  family,  boring  numerous 
round  holes,  and  laying  eggs  which  hatched  small  white  worms  that  com- 
pletely girdled  the  tree  in  a  single  year.  Later  in  this  month  specimens 
were  received  from  Mr.  Endicott;  two  pieces. of  affected  plum  trees,  one 
a  section  of  a  trunk  four  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  other  a  branch  one 
and  a  fourth  inches  through,  the  latter  dead,  and  the  bark  everywhere 
perforated  with  numerous  circular  holes  i  to  i^  mm.  in  diameter.  These 
were  most  numerous  in  the  old  leaf  scars,  as  many  as  six  to  a  single  scar, 
but  were  elsewhere  uniformly  but  irregularly  distributed,  averaging  per- 
haps five  or  six  to  the  square  inch.  The  bark  was  thoroughly  under- 
mined by  burrows  of  about  the  same  size  as  the  openings  made  in  the 
deeper  portion  of  the  bark  and  the  outer  part  of  the  sap  wood,  so  as  to 
give  the  surface  when  the  bark  was  removed  a  grooved  appearance,  most 
of  the  grooves  running  irregularly  lengthwise.  On  carefully  cutting  the 
bark  from  about  three  square  inches,  fragments  of  a  dead  beetle  were 
discovered,  together  with  eight  living  full-grown  larvae  and  a  single  pupa 
— this  last  a  point  of  special  interest  as  bearing  upon  the  life  history  of 
the  species. 

Next,  at  Fairfield,  Illinois,  May  10,  1890,  adult  beetles  were  found 
alive  in  the  bark  of  apple  trees.  Others  were  seen  flying  in  the  orchard 


1891.]  THE    FRUIT    BARK    BEETLE.  471 

and  alighting  on  the  trees,  as  shown  by  specimens  caught  in  the  fingers. 
They  were  flying  swiftly  and  freely,  as  if  capable  of  protracted  flights. 

Immediately  on  my  return  from  the  horticultural  meeting  last  Decem- 
ber, Mr.  Marten  was  sent  on  a  trip  through  the  southern  part  of  the  state, 
to  make  a  careful  field  study  of  the  work,  and  distribution  of  the  fruit 
bark  beetle  in  the  principal  fruit-growing  districts.  His  notes  of  the  trip 
are  given  here  somewhat  fully  as  bearing  upon  the  following  important 
questions:  Does  this  fruit  beetle  attack  perfectly  healthy  trees,  or  has  it 
the  habit,  quite  common  among  borers,  of  selecting  by  preference  those 
already  diseased?  Can  these  injurious  insects  be  now  exterminated  in 
Illinois  either  by  co-operative  or  compulsory  measures? 

At  Villa  Ridge,  on  the  grounds  of  Mr.  E.  J.  Ayers,  two  peach  trees  were  found  af- 
fected— not  as  yet  very  badly  damaged.  One  of  these  trees  was,  however,  partly  dead 
from  some  other  cause.  The  affected  plum  trees  (Chickasaws)  on  Mr.  Endicott's  place 
had  been  imported  from  New  Jersey  in  1883,*  and  were  believed  to  have  been  attacked 
in  1885  or  1886,  when  two  or  three  years  old,  but  the  insects  themselves  were  not  detected 
until  1887.  Plum-trees  from  Texas  were  next  infested,  and  also  a  few  peach-trees  adja- 
cent, probably  by  beetles  from  the  New  Jersey  stock.  All  these  trees  having  been  cut 
down  and  burned,  none  of  the  fruit  beetles  were  then  to  be  found  in  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity. Elsewhere  on  the  same  premises,  however,  a  Mariana  plum  injured  by  a  wagon  in  the 
spring  was  completely  riddled,  and  seemingly  healthy  trees  likewise  showed  a  few  punct- 
ures. One  dead  tree  full  of  holes  contained  no  beetles. 

Four  additional  places  were  visited  at  Villa  Ridge,  in  which  plum-,  peach-,  and 
cherry-trees  were  found  infested.  The  work  of  the  beetle  was  also  recognized  in  peach- 
trees  cut  down  the  year  before,  but  these  contained  no  larvae  at  the  time.  Two  vigorous 
peach-trees,  which  showed  the  characteristic  perforations  very  thickly  placed,  did  not  have 
the  bark  undermined;  but  these  trees  had  bled  very  freely,  the  gum  having  run  down 
the  trunks  to  the  ground  in  considerable  quantities.  It  would  seem  from  this  observation, 
supported  by  a  section  of  the  trunk  brought  to  the  office,  that  the  peach-tree  may  repel 
the  beetle,  or  prevent  the  hatching  of  its  eggs  at  least,  at  some  times  and  under  some 
conditions,  by  a  free  exudation  of  its  gummy  sap. 

At  Anna,  in  Union  county,  this  pest  was  found  abundant  and  destructive,  infesting 
the  plum,  in  which  the  larvae  varied  in  development  from  half  to  full  grown,  occurring 
also  in  the  cherry,  even  down  to  twigs  under  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and,  on  the 
farm  of  Mr.  Fuller,  badly  infesting  large  Ben  Davis  apple-trees,  either  dead  or  dying. 
The  condition  of  these  trees  and  the  amount  of  injury  by  the  bark  beetle  gave  the  obser- 
ver  the  impression  that  the  trees  were  damaged  before  the  insect  attack.  Several  peach- 
trees  were  also  attacked  on  these  premises.  One  of  the  plum-trees  here  noticed  had  evi 
dently  been  first  attacked  in  an  injured  limb.  Woodpeckers  were  said  to  have  stripped 
the  bark  off  many  dead  limbs  in  their  search  for  larvrc.  By  Dr.  Pickles,  of  Anna,  iden- 
tical injuries  were  reported  to  occur  on  twelve  other  fruit  farms  within  his  knowledge,  at 
this  place. 

At  Cobden,  two  places  were  visited  where  several  apparently  unhealthy  apple-trees 
-were  badly  infested,  one  of  them  nearly  denuded  of  bark  by  birds.  Here  also  peach-, 
plum-,  and  cherry-trees  had  been  attacked. 

At  Makanda,  Jackson  county,  several  plum-trees  were  found  very  full  of  holes,  some 
of  them  completely  riddled  and-  apparently  practically  killed.  Peach-trees  here  were 
also  badly  affected,  but  none  of  the  injury  was  found  in  wild  fruits  of  any  kind,  nor  yet 
in  nursery  stock. 

At  Du  Quoin,  in  two  places  visited,  plum-trees  were  injured,  some  seriously,  others 
slightly;  and  at  Centralia,  in  the  orchard  of  Mr.  Jabez  Webster,  President  of  the  State 

*As  the  beetle  had  been  reported  from  New  Jersey  some  years  before,  it  is  very  likely  that  it  was  brought 
in  these  trees  to  Mr.  Endicott's  place  directly  from  there. 


472  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February, 

Horticultural  Society,  the  larvae  of  the  beetles  and  their  work  were  found  in  plum-,  cherry-r 
and  apple-trees,  the  first  most  seriously  damaged.  In  the  apple,  however,  they  occurred 
only  in  branches  previously  injured  or  diseased.  Several  cherry-trees  in  different  parts  of 
the  town  were  quite  badly  infested. 

From  Tonti  to  Odin,  only  a  single  affected  tree  was  found,  and  that  a  peach,  the  wild 
plum-  and  cherry-trees  by  the  roadside,  and  the  apple-trees  in  the  orchards  seeming  free 
from  injury.  At  Albion,  in  Edwards  county,  the  larva  was  found  repeatedly  in  cherryr 
plum,  and  apple,  the  plum-trees  suffering  badly,  one  of  them  killed  and  stripped  by  birds. 
At  Olney  the  fruits  already  mentioned  were  similarly  injured,  the  plum  and  peach  most;: 
and  on  one  place  here  young  plum-trees  were  affected.  At  Fairfield,  in  Wayne  county, 
four  places  were  visited,  and  beetles  found  in  all,  in  each  of  the  usual  fruits.  Here  an 
injury  to  young  apple  -trees  was  noticed, — the  only  instance  seen. 

No  observations  were  made  at  that  time  west  of  the  line  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, but  its  probable  occurrence  in  this  region  is  shown  by  a  communication  from  Prof. 
Herbert  Osborn,  of  Iowa,  published  in  the  Orange  Judd  Farmer,  of  Chicago,  for  Jan. 
10,  1891  (p.  20),  in  which  he  mentions  the  receipt  from  a  correspondent  at  Girard,  Ma- 
coupin  county,  Illinois,  of  portions  of  an  injured  plum-tree  showing  quite  evidently  the 
work  of  the  fruit  bark  beetle;  and  I  have  since  learned  of  its  presence  south  of  BelleYille» 
in  St.  Clair  county,  and  at  Alton,  in  Madison  county. 

HISTORY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AT  LARGE.* 

This  insect  seems  to  have  been  first  observed  in  the  United  States 
about  the  year  1877,  and  was  first  reported  from  Elmira,  New  York,  where 
it  had  done  noticeable  injury  to  peach-trees.  In  1880,  Dr.  Riley  mentioned 
its  occurrence  at  Fairhaven,  New  Jersey;  in  Coopersburg,  Pennsylvania; 
Hillsboro,  Missouri;  Williamsport,  Maryland;  and  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia. At  Fairhaven  it  had  destroyed  all  the  cherry-,  peach-,  and  plum-trees, 
set  out  on  a  particular  lot;  in  Pennsylvania  it  had  injured  the  cherry; 
and  in  Missouri  and  Maryland  it  had  attacked  also  the  peach.  In  1884, 
Dr.  Hagen,  of  the  Harvard  University  Museum,  discovered  it  in  the  larger 
branches  of  young  pear-trees  at  Cambridge;  and  the  same  year  it  was  re- 
ported from  Georgia — the  specimens  being  determined  by  Dr.  Riley — as 
occurring  in  pear,  apple,  peach,  and  plum.  In  1885,  Dr.  John  Ham- 
ilton, of  Allegheny,  Pennsylvania,  made  the  surprising  statement  that 
he  had  obtained  this  insect  twice  by  breeding  from  hickory-twigs;  but 
Mr.  E.  A.  Schwarz,  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  to  whom  the  spec- 
imens were  referred,  reported  later  that  they  were  not  S.  rugulosus,  but 
a  species  apparently  undescribed.  (Proc.  Ent.  Soc.  Wash.,  I.,  i886r 
p.  30.)  In  South  Carolina  it  infested  peach,  plum,  and  cherry  in  1885  and 
1886,  and  did  considerable  damage  in  that  state.  One,  and  possibly  two, 
hymenopterous  parasites  of  the  larvae  were  here  bred  from  it  by  Prof. 
Atkinson.  These  parasites  were  found  quite  common  in  larvae  infesting 
the  peach,  and  are  of  especial  interest  as  the  first  indication,  of  any  nat- 
ural check  upon  the  multiplication  of  this  species. f  The  fact  that  it  is 


*A  recent  letter  from  Dr.  Riley  gives  me  the  following  additional  dates  and  localities  taken  from  his 
correspondence  and  collections : 

Ammendale,  Md.,  October,  1881,  from  plum  ;  Marlboro,  N.  Y.,  November  16,  1881;  Macon,  Ga.,  Octo- 
ber 5,  1883,  on  pear ;  Glendale,  Md.,  April  9,  1884,  on  plum;  Wading  River,  N.  Y.,  March  18,  1884,  on 
cherry;  Junction  P.  O.,  Va.,  October  2,  1885  ;  Mt.  Vernon,  Ind.,  June  24,  1890,  on  peach  ;  New  Lexington, 
Pa.,  July  7,  1890,  on  pear  ;  LaFayette.  Ind.,  August  15,  1890,  on  peach. 

tMany  of  the  larvae  now  in  the  office  in  bark  of  trees  are  clearly  parasitized,  but  the  parasites  have  not 
been  bred. 


1891-]  THE  FRUIT  BARK  BEETLE.  473 

not  considered  very  seriously  injurious  in  Europe,  where  it  has  long  been 
known,  makes  it  very  likely  that  it  is  kept  in  checlf  there  by  parasites,  and 
gives  ground  for  the  hope  that  parasitism  here  may  presently  put  a  stop* 
to  its  increase. 

EUROPEAN  ACCOUNTS. 

In  the  present  incomplete  state  of  our  knowledge  of  the  habits  and 
history  of  this  insect  and  of  the  variety  and  extent  of  its  injuries,  some 
of  the  particulars  of  its  European  history  will  serve  at  least  a  temporary 
purpose. 

Over  fifty  years  ago  it  was  recognized  in  Germany  as  injurious  to  the 
apple,  and  the  best  biography  of  it  which  I  have  yet  seen  is  that  pub- 
lished by  Schmidberger  in  1837  in  Kollar's  Treatise  on  Insects — his  rela- 
tion being  based  on  the  methodical  observation  of  specimens  bred  in 
apple  twigs  for  one  entire  year,  from  May,  1834,  to  May,  1835. 

According  to  the  fullest  European  account  of  their  injuries  within 
tny  reach  as  I  write, — that  contained  in  Taschenberg's  Practical  Ento- 
mology,— these  beetles  infest,  in  Germany,  the  apple,  plum,  cherry,  peach, 
and  quince,  occurring  more  frequently  in  the  branches  than  in  the  trunk. 
The  adult  makes  its  appearance  in  May,  but  fresh  burrows  may  be  found 
as  late  as  October — a  fact  which  may  be  explained  either  as  an  indication 
of  a  second  brood,  or  of  long-continued  injuries  by  a  single  generation. 
The  female  perforates  the  bark  and,  after  pairing  in  the  anterior  part  of 
her  nearly  vertical  breeding  chamber,  burrows  longitudinally,  laying  eggs 
to  the  right  and  left  as  she  goes.  The  larvae  hatching,  eat  laterally  out- 
ward, forming  nearly  straight  channels,  furrowing  the  sap  wood  more  or 
less,  unless  the  bark  be  thick,  and  forming  finally  a  pupal  chamber  in  the 
^wood.  Larvae  from  the  eggs  earliest  laid  are  said  by  Taschenberg  to  com- 
plete their  transformations  by  the  end  of  June — a  statement  quite  at 
-variance  with  that  of  Schmidberger,  whose  beetles  laid  eggs  in  May,  which, 
fcept  in  his  warm  living  room,  did  not  finish  their  development  until  the 
following  February,  and  did  not  come  forth  for  further  reproduction  until 
April  and  May. 

The  only  remedies  suggested  are  the  special  care  and  fertilization  of 
trees  to  enable  them  to  repel  the  attack  of  the  beetles;  the  destruction, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  of  trees  seriously  infested;  or,  in  the  case  of  especially 
valuable  ones,  protection  by  lasting  repellants  applied  to  the  trunks  and 
branches. 

Kaltenbach,  Eichoff,  Dobner,  Goureau,  and  Giard  add  nothing  de- 
cisive or  important  to  this  account  except  to  give  the  hawthorn,  elm,  and 
mountain  ash  in  the  list  of  trees  infested,  and  to  increase  by  their  state- 
ments the  probabilities  of  two  annual  broods  of  the  beetles,  instead  of 
the  single  one  reported  by  Schmidberger. 

INJURIES  TO  VEGETATION. 

The  trees  now  reported  subject  to  injury  by  this  insect  are  plums  of 
various  varieties,  cherry,  apricot,  peach,  pear,  apple,  and  quince,  among 


474  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  \February, 

the  fruits,  besides  the  dm,  mountain  ash,  and  European  hawthorn.     Our 
personal  observations  and  the  common  consent  of  writers  on  this  species,, 
both  American  and  foreign,  are  to  the  general  effect  that  trees  are  much 
more  subject  to  injury  if  they  are  in  an  unhealthy  condition,  the  apple 
particularly,  in  southern  Illinois,  seeming  to  be  attached  only  when  other- 
wise debilitated.     A  single  possible  exception  to  this  statement  should  be 
made  of  young  apple-trees  recently  transplanted  which  were  attacked 
without  other  signs  of  previous  weakness  than  such  as  naturally  follow  a 
change  of  place.     Some  of  the  leading  European  writers  say  that  this 
insect  affects  only  unhealthy  trees,  simply  aggravating  their  disease,  what- 
ever it  may  be,  and  hastening  death.     Certainly,  however,  in  Illinois,  so 
far  as  one  may  judge  from  observations  already  made,  plum-  and  cherry- 
trees  which  would  pass'  as  healthy,  even  those   still  young  and  thrifty, 
sometimes  suffer  serious  injury.     On  the  other  hand  we  have  had  occa- 
sional instances  of  a  vigorous  attack  made  on  the  trunk  and  branches  of 
the  peach  which  was  apparently  repelled  by  the  great  effusion  of  gummy- 
sap,  so  that  no  injury  has  resulted  except  such  as  would  follow  from  this- 
profuse  bleeding.     It  is  further  to  be  noticed  that  the  beetles  bore  by 
preference,  as  is  remarked  by  Taschenberg,  in  the  parts  of  the  tree  or 
twigs  where  the  sap  flows  least  vigorously — a  statement  which  will  per- 
haps account  for  the  curious  concentration  of  punctures  around  small 
knots  and  old  leaf  scars,  on  lateral  spurs,  and  the  like.     It  is  also  very 
plain  that  a  damaged  branch  of  a  healthy  tree  is  almost  certain  to  attract 
attention  when  this  beetle  is  abroad,  and  to  receive  the  first  injury.     The 
truth  seems  to  be  that  while  these  insects  clearly  prefer  weakened  trees,, 
and  will  continue  to  breed  in  them  to  some  extent  even  after  they  are 
nearly  or  quite  dead,  they  nevertheless  may  attack  such   as  are   really 
healthy  and  in  which  the  flow  of  sap  is  temporarily  restrained  by  trans- 
planting or  a  relatively  unthrifty  growth.     The  stone  fruits  are  clearly 
more  liable  to  injury  than  others,  the  plum  seemingly  most  of  all,  and  the 
peach  perhaps  next. 

A  first  attack  by  this  beetle  may  be  made  either  up"bn  the  twigs  and 
smaller  branches  or,  as  is  much  more  commonly  the  case  according  to 
our  observations,  upon  the  upper  part  of  the  trunk,  and  the  bases  of  the 
larger  branches  at  the  forks  of  the  tree.  It  may  extend  to  the  very  ter- 
minal twigs,  those  as  small  as  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  or,  in  the 
other  direction,  to  the  lower  part  of  the  trunk  to  within  a  few  inches  of 
the  ground.  The  first  conspicuous  evidence  of  injury  to  the  twigs  is  a 
withering  of  the  leaves,  and  a  shriveling  of  the  bark  similar  to  that 
caused  by  blight;  but  if  the  trunk  or  larger  branches  be  attacked,  dam- 
age to  the  bark  may  go  on  for  some  time  without  manifest  effect  upon  the 
general  appearance  of  the  tree.  Occasionally  the  first  thing  to  strike  the 
eye  is  a  remarkable  amount  of  gummy  exudation,  either  on  the  branches, 
or  the  trunk,  which  may  take  the  form  of  minute  scattered  drops,  or 
sometimes,  in  the  peach  especially,  may  run  down  the  trunk  to  the 
ground  in  extraordinary  quantities.  A  closer  examination  will  show  a 


1891-]  THE    FRUIT    BARK    BEETLE.  475 

blackening  of  the  bark  where  it  has  been  undermined,  and  always  minute 
round  punctures  half  or  two-thirds  the  diameter  of  the  head  of  a  com- 
mon pin.  Upon  the  twigs  these  punctures  are  most  abundant  at  the_old 
leaf  scars,  or  on  the  thick  lateral  spurs,  but  they  may  occur  elsewhere, 
and  in  the  thicker  bark  of  the  trunk  and  branches  seem  quite  irregularly 
distributed.  If  the  bark  is  cut  away,  these  openings  are  seen  to  pene- 
trate it,  commonly,  to  the  wood,  the  channels  usually  running  vertically 
inward  (sometimes  a  little  obliquely);  and  if  the  tree  be  badly  infested 
the  under  surface  of  the  bark  will  be  almost  completely  eaten  out  and 
marked  by  a  net-work  of  fine  channels  of  about  the  same  diameter  as 
the  small  holes  already  mentioned.  The  greater  part  of  these  grooves 
run  lengthwise  of  the  stem,  and,  except  where  the  bark  is  thickest,  simi- 
larly furrow  the  surface  of  the  wood,  so  that  when  the  tree  is  denuded  of 
bark  the  whole  surface  beneath  is  seen  to  be  closely  engraved,  as  by  a 
minute  gouge.  More  critical  examination  will  show  here  and  there  a 
broader  burrow,  running  commonly  lengthwise  of  the  stem,  nearly 
straight,  or  sometimes  a  little  curved,  and  from  this  central,  larger  chan- 
nel, a  great  number  of  much  smaller  ones  will  pass  out  to  the  right  and 
left  as  closely  as  they  can  be  placed,  increasing  in  size  as  they  go,  and 
presently  changing  direction,  so  that  those  at  first  running  crosswise  of 
the  stem  become  longitudinal.  If  one  of  the  grooves  on  the  surface  of 
the  wood  be  traced  to  its  further  end,  one  will  frequently  find — especially 
in  the  winter — a  speck  of  wood  dust  which,  when  picked  away,  is  seen  to 
have  closed  the  opening  to  a  little  chamber  within  which  the  footless 
white  grub — the  larva  of  the  beetle — is  securely  lodged. 

This  description  will  be  better  understood  after  the  method  is 
explained  by  which  these  burrows  are  made.  The  female  beetle,  resort- 
ing to  the  tree,  burrows  into  the  bark  directly  inward,  and  then,  turning 
lengthwise  of  the  branch,  digs  a  channel  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  and 
a  quarter  long — the  larger  burrow  described  above,  called  the  breeding 
chamber — laying  eggs  to  the  right  and  left  as  she  makes  her  way.  As 
these  eggs  hatch,  the  young  larvae,  very  small  at  first,  eat  outward  in  all 
directions,  forming  the  closely  placed  radiating  channels  already  describ- 
ed, enlarging  the  burrow  of  course  as  they  increase  in  size  themselves; 
and  finally,  when  they  have  reached  their  growth,  each  sinks  itself  in  the 
sap  wood  to  a  depth  scarcely  greater  than  its  own  thickness,  stopping  the 
channel  behind  it  with  a  little  mass  of  wood  fiber;  and  there  it  changes 
to  the  pupa  stage.  This  terminal  cell  is  consequently  called  the  pupal 
chamber.  In  this  little  harborage  the  adult  beetle  appears  and  eats  its 
way  out  through  an  opening  similar  to  that  by  which  the  mother  entered 
in  the  beginning. 

It  will  be  seen  that  not  all  the  perforations  (with  which  the  bark  may 
be  as  thickly  peppered  as  if  filled  with  a  charge  of  fine  shot)  lead  into 
the  larger  breeding  chambers,  but  most  of  them,  in  fact,  are  exits  for  the 
escape  of  beetles  which  have  matured  within  the  wood,  and  lead  directly 
into  the  deserted  pupa  chamber. 


476  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February, 

As  these  beetles  may,  and  apparently  commonly  do,  return  at  once 
to  the  bark  and  wood  of  the  tree  from  which  they  have  just  emerged,  the 
injury  may  spread  rapidly,  with  the  effect  to  completely  undermine  the 
bark  as  far  as  it  extends,  by  the  destruction  of  the  cambium  layer.  The 
tree  is  of  course  deadened  as  far  as  the  injury  goes.  Birds  not  infre- 
quently search  these  deadened  places  and  break  the  bark  away,  or  leave 
it  hanging  in  shreds. 

Sometimes  the  trunks  of  trees,  especially  the  peach,  will  be  penetrated 
by  openings  of  this  same  sort,  which  do  not  end  in  burrows,  but  stop 
presently  without  further  development.  Whether  these  are  abortive 
efforts  to  enter  for  breeding  purposes,  or  simply  holes  dug  in  feeding,  we 
ar«  not  able  certainly  to  say.  Their  great  number  in  the  trunk  of  the 
peach,  and  the  excessive  bleeding  which  they  cause,  must  sometimes  do 
considerable  harm,  and  may  even  so  weaken  the  tree  as  to  leave  it  sub- 
ject to  more  serious,  attack.  Indeed  this  injury  to  the  trunk  has  occa- 
sionally been  noticed  in  company  with  the  usual  burrowing  and  destruc- 
tion of  bark  upon  the  branches  and  twigs  of  the  same  tree. 

DESCRIPTION. 

The  little  beetle  by  which  the  psrforations  are  made  is  about  one -tenth  of  an  inch  in 
length  and  one-third  as  wide,  nearly  black,  except  the  tip  of  ths  wing  covers  and  lower 
part  of  the  legs,  which  are  russet-red.  It  is  somewhat  cylindrical  in  general  form,  and 
under  a  glass  of  moderate  power  shows  a  clothing  of  yellowish  hairs  on  head  and  wing 
covers  and  a  minute  regular  grooving  of  the  latter,  with  small  punctures  between  the 
grooves.  The  thorax  is  also  punctured  and  delicately  margined  behind  and  at  the  sides. 
The  head  is  vertical,  the  jaws  stout  and  short,  the  antennae  short  and  strongly  clubbed. 

The  larva  or  grub,  if  it  may  be  so-called,  is  without  feet,  white,  transversely  wrin- 
kled, with  a  small  brown  head.  The  anterior  segments  of  the  body  are  considerably 
thickened,  and  behind  these  the  form  tapers  slightly  to  the  end.  It  is,  like  the  beetle, 
about  one-tenth  of  an  inch  in  length. 

For  technical  uses  I  add  a  fuller  description  of  these  two  most  important  stages. 

Imago. — Elongate  oval,  piceous  black,  feebly  shining,  sparsely  clothed  with  whitish 
hairs,  antennae,  tips  of  femora,  tibiae,  tarsi,  and  usually  the  apical  margins  of  elytra  red- 
dish brown.  Head  finely  and  very  densely  punctate  above,  front  finely  longitudinally  acic- 
ulate,  more  densely  hairy,  remainder  of  head  nearly  glabrous,  beneath  strongly  trans- 
versally  striate.  Thorax  sparsely  hairy,  disk  glabrous;  more  coarsely  punctate,  less 
densely  on  the  disk,  the  punctures  more  or  less  elongated  and  confluent  into  longitudinal 
striae.  Elytra  longer  than  thorax,  narrower  behind,  tips  serrate,  separately  rounded,  sur- 
face striate,  striae  with  close-set  punctures  as  coarse  as  those  of  the  thorax,  intervals  wide, 
with  a  single  row  of  equally  coarse  and  close-set  punctures  bearing  at  intervals  conspic- 
uous, erect,  whitish  bristles;  surface  also  more  or  less  obliquely  wrinkled,  especially  near 
the  sides  and  suture;  humeral  callosities  feebly  wrinkled.  Surface  beneath  and  legs 
finely  alutaceous,  densely  and  very  coarsely  punctate;  thorax  and  legs  sparsely  hairy, 
disk  of  prosternum  nearly  glabrous;  abdomen  compressed  at  base,  less  coarsely  punctate, 
clothed  with  erect  bristles  like  those  on  elytra;  declivity  almost  plane,  not  margined, 
rising  regularly  from  near  base  to  the  apex;  last  segment  concave  near  posterior  margin. 
Length  2 — 2^  mm. 

Larva. — Oblong,  cylindrical,  thicker  anteriorly,  feebly  shining,  finely  granulate,  or 
rugose,  whitish,  head  above  and  at  the  sutures  below,  and  palpi,  brownish  ferruginous, 
clypeus  paler,  mandibles  black.  Head  small,  clypeus  distinct,  feebly  emarginate  in  front, 
anterior  and  posterior  margins  nearly  parallel,  labrum  brownish  dusky,  semicircular,  bear- 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE. 

Fig.  i.  Larva  of  Scolytus  rugulosus,  enlarged  twenty- two  diameters. 

Fig.  2.  Pupa,  side  view,  enlarged  twenty  diameters. 

Fig.  3.  Beetle,  enlarged  twenty  diameters. 

Fig.  4.  Pupa,  dorsal  view,  enlarged  twenty  diameters. 

Fig.  5.  Chiropachys  colon,  Linn.,  parasite  of  larva,  enlarged  eight 
diameters. 

Fig.  6.  Small  branch  of  peach,  showing  perforations  of  bark;  nat- 
ural size. 

Fig.  7.  Small  branch  of  plum,  with  bark  removed,  showing  breed- 
ing chamber  and  tunnels  in  sap  wood  made  by  larva;  natural  size. 

Fig.  8.  Perforations  of  bark  of  large  branch  of  plum  tree;  natural  size. 

Fig.  9.  Denuded  branch,  showing  breeding  chambers,  larval  chan- 
nels, and  pupal  chambers;  natural  size. 

Figs,  i,  2,  3,  4,  6,  7,  and  8  are  original  drawings,  made  by  Mr.  A. 
M.  Westergren;  and  Figs.  5  and  9  are  from  unpublished  cuts  loaned 
by  Dr.  C.  V.  Riley. 


Fig.  1. 


Fig.  4. 


Fig.  H. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  7. 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  5. 


Fig.  9. 


Fig.  8 


1891-]  '1'HE  FRUIT  BARK  BEETLE.  477 

ing  on  the  anterior  margin  three  to  five  punctiform  impressions,  and  a  few  satae;  mandi- 
bles smooth,  rather  blunt;  palpi  biarticulate,  the  basal  joint  paler,  short  and  thick,  the 
second  brownish,  more  slender,  antennae  two-jointed,  minute,  situated  near  the  base  of  the 
mandibles;  just  above  this  a  puncture  which  seems  to  contain  a  single  minute  ocellus.  Tho- 
vacie  segments  somewhat  thicker  than  the  abdomen,  more  densely  granulate  and  sub- 
opaque,  the  cervical  shield  with  the  posterior  margin  deeply  notched  on  each  side,  a 
densely  granulate  and  opaque  anterior  and  posterior  border  and  median  line,  the  latter 
sulcate  and  narrowed  in  front,  and  lateral  lines  extending  forward  each  side  from  the 
notches  in  the  posterior  margin,  but  becoming  obsolete  before  attaining  the  anterior  bor- 
der, the  remaining  spaces  shining  and  but  feebly  rugose;  following  segments  finely  wrin- 
kled transversely,  and  granulate.  Body  posteriorly  subtruncate,  anal  segment  quadrate, 
densely  granulate,  and  opaque,  the  anal  aperture  in  the  form  of  an  X.  Spiracles  faintly 
•darker  than  ground  color,  surrounded  by  concentric  wrinkles.  Length  2 — 2^  mm. 

LIFE  HISTORY  AND  REMEDIES. 

The  facts  at  hand,  when  all  combined,  are  not  sufficient  to  settle  pos- 
itively even  the  general  features  of  the  life  history  of  this  insect,  but  leave 
in  doubt,  indeed,  the  number  of  broods.  Schmidberger's  account  above 
referred  to,  the  only  one  based  on  continuous  observations  throughout 
the  year,  would  make  it  single-brooded  in  the  latitude  of  Vienna;  but  his 
infested  apple  twigs  were  kept  the  whole  year  in  the  house,  and  the  trans- 
formations are  quite  as  likely  to  have  been  retarded  in  summer  by  this 
treatment  as  to  have  been  hastened  in  winter.  It  may  be,  consequently, 
that  his  beetles,  which  emerged  in  February  would  have  come  out  the  pre- 
ceding autumn  in  time  to  lay  their  eggs  for  another  generation  if  the  tree 
in  which  they  were  bred  had  been  exposed  to  the  open  sun.  This  matter 
is  not  of  immediate  practical  importance  however,  as  all  direct  observa- 
tions in  Europe  and  America  show  that  the  insect  passes  the  winter  only 
as  a  larva  under  the  bark,  and  that  these  hibernating  larvae  transform  and 
escape  as  adults  from  early  spring  to  summer,  beginning  to  emerge  as 
early  as  the  last  of  March,  and  laying  their  eggs  without  delay.  Eggs  are 
certainly  laid  in  the  fall  (September),  and  the  beetles  then  perish  in  our 
latitude.  The  larval  hibernation  in  the  tree  is  the  vulnerable  point  in  the 
biography  of  this  insect,  and  suggests  at  once  the  most  certain  and  simple 
remedy;  viz.,  the  destruction  by  fire,  in  winter,  of  the  trees  or  parts  of 
trees  containing  them. 

While  it  can  hardly  be  said  at  present  that  it  would  be  wise  to  destroy 
every  tree,  root  and  branch,  which  contain  the  insects  in  any  number,  its 
•certainjy  is  best  that  all  trees  badly  infested  should  be  cut  up  and  burned 
during  the  winter  months,  and  that  punctured  twigs  and  branches  of  those 
less  severely  attacked  should  be  cut  away  and  similarly  destroyed.  As 
the  beetles  may  begin  to  emerge  in  March,  this  procedure  should  not  be 
too  long  delayed.  It  is  now  scarcely  possible,  however,  to  completely 
exterminate  this  insect  in  Illinois  by  any  measures  which  may  be  reason- 
ably taken  at  the  present  time.  It  is  too  wide-spread,  occurs  in  too  great 
a  variety  of  fruits,  quite  possibly  even  in  those  growing  wild  in  wood- 
lands, and  its  life  history  is  too  imperfectly  known  to  make  advisable  the 
drastic  measures  which  an  effort  at  extermination  would  require.  Especially 


478  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February, 

I  judge  that  legal  compulsion — only  to  be  used  as  a  last  resort — should 
at  least  be  delayed  until  all  the  facts  are  learned,  and  until  all  reasonable 
measures  have  been  tested^  including  a  thorough-going  co-operation 
among  fruit-growers  in  southern  Illinois.  An  attempt  at  extermination 
wo  Jmean  the  absolute  destruction  of  every  tree  showing  even  the  least 
attack;  and  if  later  investigation  should  make  known  some  less  expensive 
method,  or  if  a  study  of  the  prevalence  of  parasitism  should  give  us 
ground  to  expect  a  natural  limitation  of  the  injury,  no  such  destruction 
could  be  justified  by  the  event.  The  investigations  of  the  next  two  years 
will  doubtless  clear  up  uncertainties,  and  enable  fruit-growing  communi- 
ties to  act  wisely  and  effectively.  There  is  a  possibility  that  thorough 
treatment  of  the  trees  with  some  poison  spray — especially  if  an  adhesive 
substance  is  mixed  with  it — at  the  time  of  year  when  these  beetles  are 
making  their  way  into  the  bark,  would  have  the  effect  completely  to  arrest 
this  injury  at  the  same  time  that  it  should  protect  the  trees  against  the 
cankerworm  and  many  other  destructive  species.  Even  the  application 
of  soap  and  soda  poisoned  with  arsenic,  now  used  against  ordinary  borers, 
if  applied  to  the  larger  branches  as  well  as  the  trunk,  might  be  found  la 
check  sufficiently  the  mischief  done  by  this  bark  beetle. 

The  suggestion  made  by  Taschenberg  is  also  worthy  of  note,  namely, 
that  since  only  the  less  vigorous  trees  are  successfully  attacked — the  more 
thrifty  ones  pouring  out  such  floods  of  sap  when  pierced  as  either  to  drive 
away  the  beetles  or  to  prevent  the  development  of  the  young — it  is  pos- 
sible that  trees  already  infested  to  some  small  extent  may  be  sustained  by 
care  and  fertilization.  Probably  the  best  kept  orchards  and  most  vigorous 
trees  will  be  least  likely  to  suffer  from  this  borer. 

S.  A.  FORBES,  PH.  D.,  Consulting  Entomologist* 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  GRASS  SEEDS,  AND  WITH  GRASSES 

AND  CLOVERS. 

In  this  article  the  following  experiments  are  reported: 

93.  Grass  Seeds,  Tests  of  Vitality. 

16.  Grasses  and  Clovers,  Comparison  of  Varieties. 

19.  Grasses  and  Clovers,  Tests  of  Varieties  and  Mixtures. 

86.  Effect  of  Fertilizers  on  Kentucky  Blue  Grass  Pasture. 

Experiment  No.  Qj.     Grass  Seeds,  Test  of  Vitality. 

The  tests  made  in  this  experiment  show  that  very  much  of  the  Ken- 
tucky blue  grass  seed  sold  in  this  country  has  little  vitality.  Of  18  sam- 
ples obtained  from  17  seedsmen  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  an 


GRASS    SEEDS,  AND    GRASSES    AND    CLOVERS. 


479 


average  of  less  than  21  per  cent,  of  the  seed  sprouted  in  soil  in  the  open 
air;  35.2  being  the  highest  per  cent,  in  any  one  sample.  Under  like  con- 
ditions 48.3  per  cent,  of  seed  gathered  on  the  Station  grounds  sprouted. 
In  four  other  trials  of  seed  harvested  on  the  Station  grounds  from  71.6 
to  80.  i  per  cent,  sprouted.  Repeated  tests  indicate  that  the  Geneva 
apparatus  is  not  satisfactory  in  testing  Kentucky  blue  grass  seed,  although 
trustworthy  and  convenient  in  testing  many  kinds  of  seeds.  The  tests 
also  indicate  that  much  of  the  timothy  seed  sold  has  a  fair  degree  of 
vitality.  Of  16  samples  obtained  from  as  many  seedsmen,  an  average  of 
76  per  cent,  sprouted.  In  but  one  case  did  the  per  cent,  sprouting  fall 
below  50;  in  six  it  was  91  or  more. 

In  the  summer  of  1889,  samples  of  Kentucky  blue  grass,  red  top,  and 
timothy  seed  were  obtained  from  each  of  17  prominent  seedsmen  of  this 
country.  Duplicate  samples  of  these  seeds,  with  a  sample  of  very  ripe  Ken- 
tucky blue  grass  seed  gathered  on  the  Station  grounds,  were  tested  in  the 
Geneva  apparatus,  the  test  beginning  July  23  and  closing  August  31,. 
1889,  the  average  temperature  was  68.7°  F.  with  a  range  of  ten  degrees, 
from  63.5°  to  73.5°  F. 

The  following  table  shows  the  percentages  of  the  seed  of  each  kind 
which  sprouted. 

TABLE  SHOWING  PERCENTAGES  GROWING  OF  SEED  OF  KENTUCKY  BLUE  GRASS,  REB> 
TOP,  AND  TIMOTHY  TESTED  IN  GENEVA  APPARATUS. 


Number  of  sample. 

Kentucky   blue 
grass. 

Red  top. 

Timothy. 

i 

7 

16 

94 

2 

3 

*25 

94 

3 

*i 

*33 

93 

4 

3 

5 

94 

5 

3 

40 

%l 

6 

2 

18 

88 

j 

A 

67 

8 

2 

50 

96 

9 

6 

32 

58 

10 

o 

4 

59 

ii 

o 

5 

75 

12 

2 

32 

42 

13 

0 

8 

57 

14 

O 

21 

81 

15 

6 

18 

78 

16 

I 

33 

69 

>7 

I 

ii 

52 

18       [Experiment  Station  ] 

o 

Average  

2  

25- 

76+ 

*Two  samples. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  table  that  less  than  2  per  cent,  of  the  blue 
grass,  25  per  cent,  of  the  red  top,  and  a  little  more  than  76  per  cent,  of 
the  timothy  sprouted.  The  maximum  per  cents,  iri  each  were  7,  63,  and 
96,  respectively. 

In  all,  27  samples  of  Kentucky  blue  grass  seed  were  tested  in  the 
Geneva  apparatus,  of  which  less  than  2  per  cent,  sprouted;  7  per  cent,  in 


480  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February, 

two  cases  was  the  maximum.  In  six  tests  of  Kentucky  blue  grass  and 
red  top  made  at  other  Stations,  10.5  per  cent,  of  the  blue  grass 
sprouted  and  of  red  top  an  average  of  56  per  cent,  sprouted.  The  largest 
per  cent,  of  Kentucky  blue  grass  sprouting  was  17  and  the  smallest  5;  of 
red  top  the  largest  was  92  and  the  smallest  20. 

The  results  of  these  tests  led  to  the  suggestion  that  while  the  Geneva 
apparatus  (an  arrangement  for  sprouting  seeds  between  folds  of  cotton 
flannel)  has  been  shown  repeatedly  to  be  admirably  adapted  to  the  sprout- 
ing and  testing  of  many  seeds,  it,  possibly,  was  in  some  way  not  suited  to 
the  sprouting  of  Kentucky  blue  grass  seed.* 

In  order  to  test  the  vitality  of  the  seed  in  the  soil  a  mixture  of  pot- 
ting soil  and  sand  was  heated  in  an  iron  kettle  for  two  hours  to  kill  any 
seeds  that  might  be  present.  The  temperature  of  the  soil  at  two  to  three 
inches  from  the  top  was  95°  to  98 °C.  (203°  to  208 °F.)  As  the  soil  was 
stirred  from  time  to  time,  probably  all  of  it  was  subject  to  a  somewhat 
higher  heat.  In  all  these  tests  check  boxes  were  left  without  any  seed 
sown,  and  no  plants  grew  in  the  soil  thus  heated. 

March  13,  14,  1890,  boxes  averaging  about  250  square  inches  and 
three  inches  deep  were  about  half  filled  with  this  soil.  The  soil  was 
moistened  with  water  and  a  gram  of  each  of  the  samples  of  Kentucky 
blue  grass  seed  already  tested  in  the  Geneva  apparatus  as  given  above, 
was  sown  in  separate  boxes  and  the  seed  covered  with  from  one-fourth  to 
one-half  an  inch  of  sand.  The  boxes  were  placed  under  the  bench  in  the 
greenhouse. 

Another  set  of  boxes  of  soil  was  similarly  sown,  except  that  the  seed 
was  covered  with  soil  instead  of  sand.  These  boxes  were  placed  on  the 
ground  in  the  open  air,  in  the  shade  of  a  row  of  evergreen  trees,  and  cov- 
ered with  cheese  cloth  to  prevent  other  seeds  from  blowing  into  the  boxes. 

The  seeds  sprouting  in  these  boxes  were  counted  and  removed  from 
time  to  time  between  March  i4th  and  July-  27th,  at  which  time  the  test 
was  concluded.  The  number  of  seeds  in  one  gram  taken  from  each  of 
four  distinct  samples  of  commercial  Kentucky  blue  grass  seed  was  counted 
and  found  to  be  4,711,  4,807,  4,910,  and  4,797  or  an  average  of  about 
4,800  to  a  gram,  and  this  number  was  taken  as  a  basis  in  calculating  the 
per  cent,  which  sprouted. 

48  per  cent,  of  the  samples  gathered  upon  the  Station  ground  grew 
in  soil  in  the  open  air  and  57  per  cent,  in  soil  in  the  greenhouse.  Of  the 
18  samples  of  seed  obtained  from  17  seedsmen  less  than  21  per  cent, 
sprouted  in  the  open  air  and  a  little  more  than  12  per  cent,  in  the  green- 
house. The  greenhouse  proved  unsatisfactory  as  a  place  to  test  the 
seeds.  The  heat  and  moisture  sprouted  the  seeds  well  enough,  doubtless, 
but  caused  them  also,  in  greenhouse  parlance,  "to  damp  off."  Some  boxes 
evidently  "damped  off"  worse  than  others  on  account  of  receiving  more 
water.  The  best  place  as  yet  found  to  test  this  seed  is  in  soil  in  the  open 
air  under  the  normal  conditions  of  heat  and  moisture. 


*A  report  of  this  work  was  made  by  Mr.  Hunt  in  Agricultural  Science  for  Jan.  1893. 


GRASS    SEEDS,  AND    GRASSES    AND    CLOVERS. 


481 


TABLE  SHOWING   NUMBER  AND   PERCENTAGE    OF    KENTUCKY   BLUE   GRASS  SEEDS 
SPROUTING  WHEN  SOWN  IN  Son.  IN  THE  OPEN  AIR  AND  IN  THE  GREENHOUSE. 


Number  of  sample. 

Number  of  seeds  sprouted  of 
one  gram  sown. 

Per  cent,  of  seeds  germinat- 
ing. 

Open  air. 

Greenhouse. 

Open  air. 

Greenhouse. 

I 

776 

49° 

1  6.  i 

10.2 

2 

1,689 

964 

35-2 

20-  1 

3* 

I>°32 

537 

21-5 

112 

3b 

1,636 

93' 

34-i 

19.4 

4 

1,429 

1,099 

29.8 

22.9 

5 

1,348 

762 

28.1 

159 

6 

674 

735 

H 

15-3 

7 

484 

396 

10.  1 

8-3 

8 

1,320 

1,090    • 

27-5 

22.7 

9 

1,105 

832 

23 

17-3 

10 

791 

35i 

16.5 

7-3 

ii 

1,148 

335 

23-9 

7 

12 

9'3 

696 

»9 

14-5 

13 

1,263 

255 

26.3 

5-3 

14 

368 

121 

7-7 

2-5 

15 

813 

341 

16.9 

7-i 

16 

798 

29! 

16.6 

6.1 

i? 

i,3°4 

586 

27.1 

12.2 

18    [Experiment  Station.] 

2,316 

2,750 

48.3 

57-2 

The  first  tests  made  upon  the  vitality  of  Kentucky  blue  grass  led  to 
a  correspondence  with  all  the  seedsmen  whose  seed  was  tested,  and  to 
some  consultations.  It  was  stated  by  seedsmen  that  it  was  the  practice 
to  cut  or  strip  Kentucky  blue  grass  for  seed  when  it  was  still  quite  green, 
as  more  and  cleaner  seed  could  be  obtained  in  this  way;  and  that  in 
curing  or  drying,  it  often  heated  and  spoiled. 

It  was  decided  to  attempt  to  test  this  matter.  June  13,  14,  1890,  60 
Ib.  of  Kentucky  blue  grass  seed  was  stripped  with  the  hand  instrument 
ordinarily  used  for  this  purpose.  The  seed  was  green  but  probably  not 
in  so  early  a  stage  as  would  have  been  desirable.  20  Ib.  was  spread  on  a 
floor  in  a  dry  room;  20  Ib.  on  a  canvas  in  a  damp  cellar;  and  20  Ib.  was 
left  in  a  grain  sack  in  a  dry  room.  June  28th  to  July  2d,  15  Ib.  of  ripe 
seed  was  stripped  and  spread  in  a  dry  room.  After  remaining  in  this 
condition  for  about  3  months  the  seed  was  passed  thrice  through  a  seive 
having  eight  meshes  to  the  linear  inch.  No  exact  test  was  made,  but  the 
seed  appeared  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  clean  as  commercial  seed,  with  the 
exception  of  the  seed  gathered  ripe  which  contained  more  broken  pieces 
of  the  stems  and  had  soft  cobwebby  hairs  adhering  to  the  seed.  A  gram 
of  each  sample  was  counted  and  the  number  of  seeds  ascertained,  as 
given  in  the  table  below.  It  will  be  seen  by  comparing  that  there  was  a 
less  number  of  seeds  in  a  gram  of  these  samples  than  in  commercial 
seed.  This  may  indicate  that  the  seed  naturally  grows  larger  in  this 
locality  than  where  the  commercial  seed  comes  from,  or  that  commercial 
seed  is  usually  gathered  when  still  greener  than  the  greenest  of  these 
samples,  in  which  case  it  would  be  smaller. 

Sept.  20,  1890,  duplicate  boxes  of  soil  prepared  as  heretofore  de- 
scribed, were  sown  with  a  gram  of  each  of  the  four  samples  of  blue  grass 


482 


BULLETIN    NO.    15. 


[February, 


seed  and  placed  in  the  open  air  to  grow.     The  number  of  seeds  growing 
in  each  box  was  counted  and  the  plants  removed  from  time  to  time. 

The  following  table  gives  the  results  obtained  up  to  November  27, 
1890. 

TABLE  SHOWING  THE  VITALITY  OF  KENTUCKY  BLUE  GRASS  SEED  CURED  IN  DIFFERENT 

WAYS. 


Condition  of  gathering  and  keeping  the  seed. 

Number  of  seeds 
sprouted  in  a  gram. 

No.  of 
seeds  in  a 
gram  as 
sown. 

Per  cent, 
of  seeds 
sprout- 
ing. 

a. 

b. 

Aver- 
age. 

Gathered  green  and  dried  on  floor  in  a  dry  room 
Gathered  green  and  dried  in  cellar  

2,994 
2,976 

3.040 
3.069 

2,737 
2,768 
2,970 
2,851 

2,866 
2,872 
3.005 
2,960 

3,954 
4,014 
4,127 
3.695 

72.5 
71.6 
72.8 
80.  1 

Gathered  green  and  dried  in  grain  sack   .    . 

Gathered  ripe  and  dried  on  floor  in  a  dry  room.  . 

The  per  cent,  of  seeds  sprouting  in  the  three  samples  gathered  green 
was  practically  alike,  being  a  little  more  than  72  per  cent.;  while  that  of 
the  ripe  seed,  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  seeds  found  in  a  gram,  was 
somewhat  higher,  being  80  per  cent.  The  .seed  gathered  green  and  pre- 
served in  any  of  the  three  ways,  two  of  which  would  be  presumably 
unfavorable,  had  more  than  three  times  the  vitality  of  18  samples  of  blue 
grass  seed  received  from  17  firms,  and  twice  as  great  as  any  one  of  the 
samples  so  obtained. 

Three  points  are  still  to  be  determined:  the  vitality  if  gathered  still 
greener;  the  vitality  during  a  series  of  years;  and  the  length  of  time  the 
seed  will  retain  its  vitality.  But  the  tests  are  sufficient  to  indicate  that  a 
better  grade  of  Kentucky  blue  grass  seed  may  fairly  be  expected  of  the 
seedsmen  of  this  country. 

Experiment  No.  16.     Grasses  and  Clovers,  Comparison  of  Varieties. 

Several  varieties  of  grasses  and  clovers  have  been  grown  on  small 
plats,  usually  one-tenth  of  an  acre  plats,  for  the  purpose  of  observing 
their  growth,  time  of  ripening,  and  endurance  in  this  soil  and  climate. 

Timothy  and  medium  red  clover,  the  staple  hay  crops  of  the  state, 
and  Kentucky  blue  grass  and  white  clover,  staple  pasture  crops,  have 
been  grown  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  comparison. 

Red  top,  Agrostis  vulgaris,  does  not  seem  especially  adapted  to  the 
prairie  soil  of  this  locality.  The  seed  is  apt  to  be  poor  and  the  plants  do 
not  take  possession  of  the  soil  as  quickly  as  do  those  of  timothy,  but  it 
eventually  makes  a  more  compact  sod.  The  hay  is  generally  regarded 
with  disfavor  by  buyers.  From  a  tenth  acre  plat,  red  top  yielded  at  the 
rate  of  1.8  tons  per  acre,  while  an  adjacent  plat  of  timothy  yielded  1.7 
tons  per  acre. 

Orchard  grass,  Dactylis  glomerata,  grows  to  a  height  of  four  feet  on 
this  soil.  It  grows  in  bunches  or  tussocks  and  produces  an  abundance  of 
leaves  early  in  the  season,  while  the  seed  culms  are  rather  sparingly  pro- 


1891-]  GRASS    SEKDS,  AND    GRASSES    AND    CLOVERS.  483 

cluced,  the  result  being  a  light  yield,  as  will  be  seen  from  Experiment  No. 
19.  It  is  in  condition  to  cut  in  June,  about  the  same  time  as  medium  red 
clover,  and  ripens  about  July  ist.  It  is  a  special  characteristic  of  this 
crop  that  it  starts  to  grow  sooner  after  being  cut  than  any  other  grass 
grown  for  hay.  Analyses  made  at  the  Station  [Bulletin  No.  j,  p.  f6j.~\ 
indicate  a  high  percentage  of  albuminoids  as  compared  with  timothy. 
Thirty-five  pounds  of  seed  are  required  per  acre.  Sowing  a  less  amount 
reduced  the  yield.  A  limited  experience  does  not  especially  commend  it 
for  pasturage. 

Meadow  fescue,  Festuca  pratensis,  seems  adapted  to  this  soil.  It  starts 
early  in  the  spring — as  early  as  Kentucky  blue  grass — and  makes  a  com- 
pact, leafy  sod  indicating  desirable  pasturage.  Its  palatability  has  not 
been  tested  here.  It  throws  up  seed  culms  rather  sparingly.  They  grew 
40  inches  high  in  1890.  One-tenth  of  an  acre  yielded  at  the  rate  2,830 
Ib.  of  water-free  substance  per  acre,  or  3,775  lb.  of  field-cured  hay  con- 
taining 25  per  cent,  of  water.  As  a  hay  crop  it  seems  superior  to  Ken- 
tucky blue  grass  but  not  equal  to  timothy.  It  is  ready  to  cut  about  the 
middle  of  June. 

Taller  fescue,  Festuca  elatior,  as  grown  here  was  but  two  inches  taller 
than  meadow  fescue  and  was  otherwise  very  much  like  it.  The  yield  of 
water-free  substance  from  one-tenth  of  an  acre  was  at  the  rate  of  2,350 
lb.  per  acre,  and  the  weight  of  field-cured  hay  containing  25  per  cent,  of 
water  was  3,135  lb.  per  acre. 

Sheep's  fescue,  Festuca  ovina,  and  hard  fescue,  Festuca  duriuscula,  are 
both  on  this  soil  small,  low  growing  species  with  spreading  culms.  The 
pasturage  does  not  seem  so  desirable  as  that  from  several  other  species  of 
grasses,  and  the  yield  of  hay  was  not  sufficient  to  make  it  worth  while  to 
cut  the  plats.  , 

Tall  meadow  oat  grass,  Arrhenatherum  avenaceum,  is  the  earliest  grass 
to  start  in  the  spring  and  the  latest  growing  grass  of  any  that  has  been 
tried  here.  It  grew  to  an  average  height  of  62  in.  in  1890  and  the  plat 
was  densely  covered  with  culms.  The  culms  or  seed  stalks  are  somewhat 
coarser  than  those  of  timothy  and  appear  woody.  The  yield  of  water- 
free  substance  on  a  tenth  of  an  acre  was  at  the  rate  of  4,110  lb.  per  acre, 
or  5,480  lb.  of  field- cured  hay,  containing  25  per  cent,  of  moisture.  This 
is  a  very  satisfactory  yield,  and  if  the  hay  proves  valuable  it  will  be  an 
important  addition  to  our  hay  crops. 

Both  the  Italian  rye  grass,  Loliurn  Italicum,  and  the  perennial  rye 
grass,  Lolium  perenne,  made  a  good  growth  and  produced  hay  the  same 
season  the  seed  was  sown.  The  culms  of  the  Italian  rye  grass  grew  3  ft. 
high  and  those  of  the  perennial  rye  grass  about  2  ft.  high.  In  both  cases 
the  stand  was  good  and  the  growth  abundant.  The  next  season  there 
was  very  little  if  any  stand  where  the  Italian  rye  grass  was  sown  and 
only  about  one-third  of  a  stand  where  the  perennial  rye  grass  was  sown. 

Roughed  stalked  meadow  grass,  Poa  trivialis,  and  wood  meadow  grass, 
Poa  nemoralis,  formed  a  fair  sod;  but  neither  for  pasture  nor  for  hay  was 


484  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February, 

the  growth  equal  to  that  of  the  Kentucky  blue  grass,  Poa  pratensis, 
although  with  the  seed  sown,  all  of  which  was  of  low  vitality,  the  first  two 
produced  a  sod  quicker.  The  culms  or  seed  stalks  of  each  were  24  to  26 
in.  high. 

Sweet  vernal  grass,  Anthoxanthum  nderatum,  has  been  sown  three 
seasons  on  a  tenth  of  an  acre  and  in  no  case  has  a  stand  resulted.  Four 
distinct  samples  have  been  tested  in  the  Geneva  apparatus,  and  7,  9,  17, 
and  20  per  cent,  respectively,  sprouted.  The  few  plants  that  have  grown 
indicate  that  it  is  of  little  or  no  value  on  this  soil.  The  plants  were  in 
bloom  about  June  i$th  and  the  culms  were  10  to  12  in.  high. 

Meadow  foxtail,  Alopecurus  pratensis,  has  been  sown  three  seasons 
without  securing  a  good  stand.  The  seeding  of  the  spring  of  1890,  the 
best  obtained,  is  possibly  one-half  of  a  stand.  Three  distinct  samples 
have  been  tested  in  the  Geneva  apparatus,  and  1 1,  73,  and  35  per  cent, 
respectively,  sprouted.  The  plant  has  a  superficial  resemblance  to  timothy, 
although  apparently  inferior  to  it. 

Mammoth  red  clover,  Trifolium  medium,  is  distinguished  from  medium 
red  clover,  Trifolium  pratense,  by  its  larger  and  coarser  growth  and  by  the 
fact  that  it  usually  yields  but  one  crop  in  a  season;  otherwise  the  two  are 
much  alike.  It  is  ready  to  cut  about  the  same  time  as  timothy,  or  three 
to  five  weeks  later  than  the  medium  red  clover.  Where  timothy  and 
medium  red  clover  are  sown  together  and  harvested  at  the  proper  time 
for  the  clover,  the  yield  of  timothy  is  much  less  than  if  allowed  to  become 
more  mature,  as  is  shown  by  experiments  made  at  this  Station  upon  the 
effect  of  ripeness  upon  the  yield  of  grasses  and  clovers.  [Bulletin  No.  5.] 
As  shown  in  Experiment  No.  19,  where  sown  with '  timothy,  mammoth 
clover,  during  two  years,  gave  a  larger  yield  from  two  cuttings  than  did 
medium  clover  and  timothy  with  three  cuttings.  On  account  of  the 
drouth  the  second  crop  of  medium  clover  was  not  harvested  the  second 
season.  Had  the  season  been  favorable,  doubtless  four  crops  of  medium 
clover  and  timothy  would  have  yielded  more  than  two  crops  of  mammoth 
clover  and  timothy.  The  fact  that  mammoth  clover  may  be  cut  in  July 
instead  of  June  makes  it  more  readily  cured  and  less  liable  to  damage 
from  rains  while  curing.  On  rich  lands  it  grows  rather  coarse  and  the 
quality  of  the  hay  is  not  considered  so  good  by  many.  It  is  not  at 
all  likely  that  it  will  displace  medium  clover  in  any  great  measure;  but, 
after  considerable  practical  experience  with  this  crop  it  is  believed 
that  it  would  prove  a  profitable  and  desirable  crop  in  many  parts  of  the 
state. 

Alfalfa,  Medicago  sativa,  does  not  seem  well  adapted  to  this  soil.  A 
fairly  good  stand  was  secured  on  a  tenth  of  an  acre  plat.  When  in  bloom, 
July  xoth  to  isth  the  season  the  seed  was  sown,  the  plants  were  18  in. 
high.  The  second  season  the  stand  was  fair,  but  the  plants  did  not  seem 
to  take  possession  of  the  ground  like  most  other  hay  crops.  The  plat 
became  much  more  weedy  than  the  other  plats  sown  to  clovers  and 
grasses.  Compared  to  medium  red  clover,  the  growth  was  light.  In 


GRASS  SKEDS,  AND  GRASSES  AND  CLOVERS. 


other  trials  a  satisfactory  stand  was  not  secured.  When  well  established 
the  plants  appear  hardy. 

Alsike  clover,  Trifolium  hybridum,  is  a  finer,  smaller  clover  than 
medium  red  clover,  with  blossoms  in  small  reddish  white  heads.  In 
growth  it  is  about  half  way  between  medium  red  clover  and  white  clover, 
Trifolium  repens.  It  does  not  seem  enduring  on  this  soil  and  the  results 
in  Experiment  No.  19  indicate  that  on  this  soil  it  is  by  no  means  equal  as 
a  hay  crop  to  medium  red  clover. 

Crimson  trefoil,  Trifolium  incarnatum,  grows  about  12  in.  high  on  this 
soil,  and  was  cut  May  20, 1890,  when  it  was  in  full  bloom  while  occasion- 
ally a  head  had  some  seed.  The  heads  are  a  small  cluster  of  yellow 
blossoms.  The  leaves  are  small  and  the  stalks  fine.  It  is  too  small  for 
a  hay  crop,  and  is  open  to  the  objection  of  maturing  the  first  crop  too 
early;  for  so  early  in  the  season  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  grass  or 
clover  to  dry  in  a  suitable  length  of  time.  This  clover  was  handled  six 
times  during  six  days,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  stems  were  still 
green  although  wilted.  The  yield  of  hay  in  this  condition  was  at  the  rate 
of  2,370  Ib.  per  acre.  The  plant  seems  enduring  and  may  prove  valuable 
for  pasturage. 

Experiment  No.  19.    Grasses  and  Clovers,  Test  of  Varieties  and  Mixtures. 

Nine  two-acre  plats  of  grasses,  clovers,  and  mixtures  were  sown  in 
1888  with  a  view  to  testing  varieties  and  mixtures  on  a  considerable  area, 
and  also  to  obtain  sufficient  hay  of  the  several  varieties  and  their  mixtures 
to  use  for  feeding  tests.  The  burning  of  the  experiment  barn  has  pre- 
vented making  the  feeding  tests. 

The  tract  used  was  fall-plowed,  sown  to  oats  April  6,  7,  1888,  and  with 
grass  and  clover  seeds,  as  shown  in  the  table,  April  i2th  to  i4th. 

The  plats  were  mown  at  the  following  dates  : 

TABLE  SHOWING  WHEN  GRASSES  AND  CLOVERS  WERE  CUT,  1889,  1890. 


•^ 
p 

I 

2 

3 

4 

f> 

8 
9 

Crop  grown. 

1889. 

1890. 

Time  of 
cutting. 

June  19. 
Jun".  lo. 
June  18. 
July  ii. 
July  10. 
June  26. 
June  18. 
June  18. 
July  10. 

Time  of 
cutting. 

Time  of 
cutting. 

Medium  clover      

June  13. 
June  13. 
June  20. 
July  22. 
July  22. 
June  20. 
June  20. 
June  22. 
June  22. 

August  17. 
August  12. 
August  19. 

Alsike  clover                 

Orchard  grass  

Timothy  

Timothy  and  mammoth  clover   

Timothy  and  medium  clover  

August  19. 
August  19 
August  14. 
August  14 

Orchard  grass  and  medium  clover  

Orchard  grass  and  alsike  clover  

Timothy  and  alsike  clover   

The  time  of  cutting,  as  well  as  the  field  notes,  indicate  that  the  alsike 
clover  ripens  earlier  than  medium  red  clover;  that  medium  red  clover 
and  orchard  grass  ripen  about  the  same  time;  that  timothy  ripens  from 


486 


BULLETIN    NO.  15. 


[February, 


three  to  five  weeks  later  than  medium  red  clover  and  about  the  same  time 
as  mammoth  red  clover. 

Where  timothy  and  medium  red  clover  were  sown  together,  the  first 
crop  the  second  year  was  from  two-thirds  to  three-fourths  clover  and 
from  one-fourth  to  one-third  timothy;  and  the  third  year  from  seeding, 
second  year  of  cropping,  the  crop  was  about  two-thirds  clover  and  one- 
third  timothy. 

Where  timothy  and  mammoth  red  clover  were  sown  together,  the  first 
crop  was  almost  entirely  clover,  and  the  crop  the  second  season  was 
probably  about  one-third  to  one-half  timothy.  Where  timothy  and 
alsike  clover  were  sown  together,  the  first  crop  was  from  two-thirds  to 
three-fourths  alsike  clover,  and  the  crop  the  next  year  was  practically 
entirely  timothy. 

Where  orchard  grass  and  medium  red  clover  were  sown  together,  the 
first  crop  was  about  one-half  clover,  and  the  stand  was  poor  as  compared 
to  the  clover  sown  with  timothy.  The  next  year  there  was  more  clover 
than  orchard  grass,  and  the  orchard  grass  was  not  so  good  a  stand  as 
where  sown  with  alsike  clover. 

Where  orchard  grass  was  sown  with  alsike  clover  the  first  crop  was 
at  least  pne-half  orchard  grass,  and  the  stand  of  alsike  clover  was  not  so 
good  as  where  sown  with  timothy.  The  next  year  the  crop  was  almost 
entirely  orchard  grass. 

In  no  place  was  the  alsike  clover  enduring.  Orchard  grass  or 
timothy  when  sown  with  it  developed  more  fully  than  when  sown  with 
medium  red  clover.  Medium  red  clover  developed  much  more  fully  when 
sown  with  timothy  than  when  sown  with  orchard  grass. 

When  each  crop  was  harvested  samples  were  taken  of  the  hay  of 
each  plat  and  the  per  cent,  of  water  in  the  hay  was  determined  by  the 
chemist  of  the  Station. 

TABLE  SHOWING  POUNDS  OF  SEED  SOWN  ON  GRASS  AND  CLOVER  PLATS;  ALSO  THE 
YIELD  OF  WATER-FREE  SUBSTANCE  AND  FIELD-CURED  HAY  IN  1889,  1890. 


1889. 

1890. 

Ave.  two  y'rs. 

j| 

<«     <£ 

9* 

cr  -*  "< 

n-  •?  "< 

n   •**  W 

8.8-6? 

C           " 

§•*  S 

**    0^ 

•  si 

•  s  5! 

3   •—  •  i-f- 

W5     &>  ^-< 

Kind  of  quantity  of  seed  sown  per  acre  in 

~    i    •-* 

•  2  g 

Q     C/3     p     T3     W 

•C   w   °" 

°     1 

1888. 

O      '     o 

*t    O"  "*» 

-i  cr  -»> 

?    ft     g^ 

FS  a 

rt  :?s 

-        ft     r» 

i—  •  ft   CT. 
CT         3 

w   ca    «-»•    na    sa    ^ 

'  3?  s^ 

s|| 

"  P  <L 

• 

CT5 

fB   ^»     -! 

"•*  c' 

Medium  red  clover,  10  Ib   

1.165 

3.14.2 

4  307     i  855 

3,081 

2    I 

Alsike  clover,  7.  5  Ib  

644 

2.24O      1,342 

1,761 

I  .2 

1,326 

1.434 

2,76O      1,^6? 

2,164 

I  4 

Timothy,   15  Ib  

3.172 

3,172    3,428 

3-300 

2.2 

Timothy,  9  Ib.  ;  mammoth  red  clover,  6  Ib  . 

4.  eqe 

4,002 

2.7 

Timothy,  9  Ib.  ;  medium  red  clover,  6  Ib.  . 

2,164 

3.180 

5.344 

2,445 

2.6 

Orchard  grass,  17.5  Ib  ;  medium  red  clover, 

61b  

I,7QC 

3  060 

4  8s" 

I,74.Q 

3  3O2 

2.2 

Orchard  grass,  17.5  Ib.  ;  alsike  clover,  5  Ib.. 

I.I33 

1,007 

2,140 

8S7 

1,499 

I 

Timothy,  Q  Ib.  ;  alsike  clover,  "?  Ib... 

I.S07 

I  4.2? 

2.Q32 

3.088 

3.010 

2 

1891-]  GRASS    SEEDS    AND    GRASSES    AND    CLOVERS.  487 

From  the  weight  of  hay  and  the  per  cent,  of  water  found  in  the 
samples  the  weight  of  the  water-free  substance  from  each  plat  was  cal  - 
culated  as  given  in  the  table  on  the  opposite  page;  that  is,  the  weight  of  hay 
after  all  the  water  has  been  expelled  by  drying  at  about  the  boiling  point  of 
water.  In  the  last  column  the  tons  per  acre  of  field-cured  hay  is  calculated 
by  assuming  that  the  hay  when  hauled  from  the  field  would  contain  an 
average  of  25  per  cent,  of  moisture,  which  is  approximately  correct  [Bulle- 
tin No.  f,  p.  i6j~],  although  there  is  usually  a  larger  per  cent,  of  water  in 
clover  as  it  is  put  into  stack  or  mow  than  in  the  grasses.  The  moisture 
in  field-cured  hays  may  vary  from  1 8  to  35  or  more  per  cent. 

The  largest  yield  of  hay,  2.7  tons  per  acre,  was  from  timothy  and 
mammoth  clover  sown  together,  which  during  the  two  years  gave  a  little 
larger  yield  at  two  cuttings  than  timothy  and  medium  red  clover  at  three 
cuttings. 

Timothy  gave  the  largest  yield,  2.2  tons  per  acre,  of  any  single  plant, 
giving  a  little  more  at  two  cuttings  than  did  medium  red  clover  at  three. 

Orchard  grass  gave  a  little  larger  yield  than  alsike  clover;  but  both 
yielded  very  much  less  either  when  sown  alone  or  sown  together  than  did 
timothy  or  red  clover.  They  yielded  less  when  sown  together  than  when 
sown  alone.  Orchard  grass  and  red  clover,  and  timothy  and  alsike  clover 
gave  poorer  yields  than  "timothy  and  red  clover.  The  test  was  made  under 
favorable  circumstances,  and  the  areas — 2  acres  for  each  plat — were  suffi- 
cient to  suggest  that  neither  alsike  clover  nor  orchard  grass  will  probably 
fill  any  larger  place  than  now  in  practical  farming  on  the  prairie  soils  of 
central  Illinois. 

Experiment  No.  86.   Effect  of  Fertilizers  on  Kentucky  Blue  Grass  Pasture. 

With  a  view  to  determining  whether  old  pastures  might  be  profitably 
improved  by  their  application,  stable  manure  and  commercial  fertilizers 
of  several  kinds  were  applied  in  1889  and  in  1890  to  a  Kentucky  blue 
grass  pasture  of  at  least  15  years  standing.  * 

The  land  used  was  a  rather  elevated  portion  of  a  forty-acre  pasture, 
and  consisted  of  eleven  quarter  of  an  acre  plats,  each  4x10  rods. 

It  did  not  seem  practicable  at  the  time  to  determine  by  constant 
cropping  the  yield  of  pasturage  from  the  several  plats.  The  yield  of  hay, 
therefore,  was  ascertained.  As  in  this  locality,  at  least,  blue  grass  hay 
from  the  most  fertile  land  would  not  be  profitable  usually,  the  absolute 
increase  of  hay  due  to  the  fertilizers  can  not  be  taken  as  indicating  the 
value  of  the  fertilizers,  but  rather  the  proportion  of  increase.  That  is  to 
say,  if  we  get  an  increase  of  800  pounds  of  hay  per  acre  and  that  is  an 
increase  of  one-half,  the  value  of  the  increase  is  one-half  the  rental  value 
of  the  acre  of  pasture,  rather  than  the  selling  price  of  the  800  pounds  of 
hay.  Even  this  method  of  getting  at  the  value  of  the  increase  rests  upon 
the  assumption  that  the  pasturage  would  be  increased  in  the  same  propor- 
tion as  the  increase  in  the  yield  of  hay,  an  assumption  which  has  not  yet 
been  verified  by  experiment. 


488 


BULLETIN    NO.   15. 


[February, 


The  use  of  horse  manure  of  rather  poor  quality  at  the  rate  of  1 2 
loads  per  acre  increased  the  yield  of  hay  in  two  years,  in  one  instance  73. 
per  cent,  and  in  another  instance  45  per  cent.  The  only  difference  in 
treatment  in  the  two  plats  was  that  in  the  former  the  first  application  was 
made  in  the  fall  previous  while  in  the  latter  both  applications  were  made 
in  the  spring.  The  fact,  however,  that  the  greatest  difference  in  increase 
in  these  two  plats  was  in  the  second  season,  would  indicate  that  the  differ- 
ence was  not  due  to  the  time  of  applying  the  manure. 

If  pasture  land  rented  for  $4  per  acre,  it  would  cost  $2.92  to  rent  a 
piece  of  land  that  would  yield  pasture  equivalent  to  the  73  per  cent,  in- 
crease, and  $1.80  to  rent  pasture  equivalent  to  the  45  per  cent,  increase. 
Whether  or  not  there  is  any  direct  profit,  each  farmer  may  decide  for 
himself.  That  there  will  be  an  increased  yield  from  the  manured  plats  in 
subsequent  years  is  to  be  expected,  and  further  experiment  will  deter- 
mine. A  considerable  experience  upon  the  University  farms  in  top- 
dressing  pastures  does  not  seem  to  indicate  any  material  decrease  in  the 
palatability  of  the  grass. 

The  use  of  cattle  tankage  and  superphosphate  at  the  rate  of  500 
pounds  per  acre  increased  the  yield  about  one-fourth.  Pasturage  equiv- 
alent to  this  increase  might  be  rented  for  $i,  if  land  rents  at  $4  per  acre. 
The  cost  of  these  applications  was  about  $5  per  acre.  The  future  effect 
of  the  fertilizers  can  be  determined  by  longer  experiments  only. 

TABLE  SHOWING  EFFECT  OF  FERTILIZERS  ON  KENTUCKY  BLUE  GRASS  PASTURE. 


2 
S- 

Kind  of  fertilizer  both  seasons. 

O 
**£§ 

*si 

S«* 

n       o 
-    c  ^ 

r|.? 

883 

332. 
-    &.&. 

8^2. 

*"«:* 
_.  n 

t-ST3   i—  • 

o-tt  P. 

sss 

3  32. 

-   p,  p, 

f"  P-O 
p  i-> 
-  xt* 
_>«  2. 
o"f»  P- 

80S 
3  3  2. 

p   P-  O. 

2  BTS. 
S"** 

-~T3    2. 

cr  n  p. 

Increase  due  tc 
fertilizers,  Ib 

Increase  due  tc 
fertilizers,  pe 
cent. 

i 

Horse  manure*  

12  loads. 

2,14.0 

3,i8o 

2,76o 

1,161; 

73 

2 

None                     . 

1,220 

2,100 

1,  660 

7 

Cattle  tankage    •  

500  Ib.  . 

1,  600 

2,400 

2,000 

4O  $ 

£C 

4. 

Superphosphate   

500  Ib. 

1,  880 

2,200 

2,040 

44.C 

27 

6 

None  
Horse  manure*  

13  loads. 

1,080 
2,160 

2,040 
2,460 

1,560 
2,310 

71"? 

4.C 

Superphosphate  

500  Ib 

Muriate  of  potash8  

200  Ib.  . 

2,280 

3,060 

2,670 

1,075 

67 

Nitrate  of  soda        

200  Ib 

8 

None         .                             

720 

2,000 

i.c6o 

o 

Muriate  of  potash8  

200  Ib  .  . 

060 

2,320 

1,640 

45 

3 

10 

Nitrate  of  soda  

200  Ib.  . 

1,040 

2,'UO 

I,6qo 

95 

6 

ii 

Gypsum  

500  Ib.  . 

780 

2,O6O 

1,420 

i.  24,320  Ib,  in  1890.     2.  21,880  Ib.  in  1890.     3.  Sulphate  of  potashdn  1890. 

Neither  potash  salts  nor  nitrate  of  soda  when  used  singly  at  the  rate 
of  200  pounds  per  acre  materially  increased  the  yield.  Nitrate  of  soda 
always  gave  the  grass  a  greener  color.  Gypsum  at  the  rate  of  500  pounds 
per  acre  seemed  to  have  no  effect.  The  use  of  superphosphate,  muriate 
of  potash,  and  nitrate  of  soda  together  increased  the  yield  67  per  cent. 
Estimated  as  heretofore,  the  increase  would  be  worth  $2.68.  The  cost 
of  the  application  was  about  $16.00  per  acre. 


1891.]  FUNGICIDES    UPON    THE    APPLE,  POTATO,  AND    GRAPE.  489 

Horse  manure  was: spread  on  plat  i  in  December,  1888,  and  again 
March  15,  1890.  March  19,  1889,  and  March  15,  1890,  horse  manure  was 
spread  on  plat  6.  March  20,  1889,  and  March  21,  1890,  the  commercial 
fertilizers  were  spread  on  the  plats  as  given  in  the  table,  except  in  1889  the 
gypsum  was  not  applied  until  March  3oth. 

The  grass  was  mown  June  19,  1889,  and  June  16,  17,  1890.  The 
hay  was  weighed  June  20-22,  1889,  and  June  21-23,  1890. 

The  table  on  the  opposite  page  gives  the  kinds  of  fertilizers  used  each 
season,  the  quantity  used  per  acre;  the  yield  of  field-cured  hay  per  acre 
each  season,  and  the  average;  the  increased  yield  of  hay  on  plats  where 
fertilizers  were  applied  over  the  average  of  the  three  plats  not  fertilized, 
and  the  per  cent,  of  increase  of  hay  due  apparently  to  the  use  of  the 
given  fertilizers. 

G.  E.  MORROW,  A.  M.,  Agriculturist. 

T.  F.  HUNT,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Agriculturist. 


USE  OF  FUNGICIDES  UPON  THE  APPLE,  THE  POTATO,  AND 

THE  GRAPE. 

Experiment  No.  35. 

The  Apple.  The  corroded,  dark- colored  spots  or  patches  very  fre- 
quently seen  on  apples  are  the  result  of  a  parasitic  fungus  known  to 
botanists  as  Fusicladium  dendriticum.  The  disease  itself  is  called"  scab." 
We  say  the  apples  are  "  scabby."  It  is  often  a  very  injurious  disease. 
The  apples  so  affected  are  unattractive  in  appearance,  are  often  less  in 
size  than  they  would  have  been,  are  misshapen,  and  do  not  keep  well. 
Rot  sets  in  at  these  corroded  spots,  and  the  whole  fruit  soon  perishes. 

Upon  closer  observation  it  may  be  seen  that  the  central  part  of  the 
affected  spot  is  covered  during  the  growing  season  by  a  dull,  dark  green, 
velvety  coating,  wholly  unlike  the  polished  skin  of  the  healthy  fruit. 
Around  the  margin  of  the  spot  there  is  a  narrow  whitish  band.  The 
geeenish  part  is  producing  a  dense  crop,  and  the  velvety  appearance  is 
itself  due  to  the  multitudes  of  spores  covering  the  surface  at  the  time. 
The  white  rim  is  the  dead  and  somewhat  upturned  edge  of  the  epidermis 
which  is  destroyed  little  by  little  by  the  slow-growing  fungus.  At  first  the 
scab  is  a  mere  point.  From  this  point  the  fungus  radiates  in  every 
direction  and  the  scab  grows  larger  in  consequence.  Then  the  var- 
nished natural  protection  of  the  inner  tissues  having  been  destroyed,  the 
latter  are  much  more  subject  to  other  rots. 

The  same  fungus  lives  upon  the  green  leaves  and  twigs  of  the  tree, 
and  really  does  much  more  serious  damage  here  than  by  the  more  con- 
-3 


490  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February v 

spicuous  injury  to  the  fruit.  The  leaves  become  more  or  less  distorted,, 
often  thickened  in  places  and  bulged.  Finally  these  affected  parts  die 
outright,  leaving  the  leaf  ragged  or  entirely  destroyed. 

Trees  thus  affected  in  midsummer  cannot  mature  a  good  crop  of 
fruit,  neither  can  they  properly  prepare  themselves  for  winter.  It  will 
therefore  be  seen  that  the  disease  is  really  a  bad  one,  and  that  any 
method  of  successfully  treating  it  is  of  much  importance. 

The  experiment  of  testing  the  value  of  fungicides  was  begun  on 
apples  in  1888.  The  apple  trees  and  fruit  in  the  experimental  orchard 
planted  in  1872  had  for  several  years  been  infested  with  scab,  to  such  an 
extent  that  on  many  varieties  little  or  no  perfect  fruit  could  be  found,, 
while  none  of  the  varieties  were  entirely  free  from  the  disease.  This 
orchard  furnished  as  good  a  place  as  could  be  desired  in  which  to  test 
fungicides  on  apple  scab.  As  there  was  nothing  later  at  hand  for  a  guide, 
Scribner's  report  on  "Fungus  Diseases  of  the  Grape  Vine,"  1886,  was 
followed  in  the  preparation  of  eau  celeste.  According  to  his  formula 
[see  page  114]  a  preparation  was  made  of  i  Ib.  of  copper  sulphate  (blue 
vitriol)  to  10  gallons  of  water  and  one  pint  of  commercial  ammonia,  and 
it  was  applied  May  24th  to  one  side  of  each  of  seven  apple  trees.  The 
same  trees  were  again  sprayed  lightly  with  a  weaker  solution  (i  Ib.  to  15 
gall,  water)  May  3ist.  The  first  spraying  had  injured  the  leaves  very 
decidedly,  so  much  that  two  of  the  trees  lost  half  their  leaves  within  a 
few  weeks.  The  trees  were  again  sprayed  June  25th  with  eau  celeste  of 
the  weaker  solution,  and  this  time  an  additional  tree  was  sprayed  to  see 
whether  the  preparation  of  this  strength  would  burn  the  leaves  and  fruit. 
Examination  of  this  tree  a  week  later  showed  some  damage  to  the  leaves 
but  not  enough  to  make  any  of  them  fall. 

A  solution  of  sulphate  of  potassium  was  made  (5  oz.  to  10  gallons  of 
water),  and  four  trees  were  sprayed  with  it  May  24th  and  3ist,  and  June 
25th;  one  tree,  May  3ist  and  June  25th;  and  three  trees,  June  25th. 
The  sulphide  of  potassium  produced  no  injurious  effect  that  could  be 
seen. 

All  the  trees  and  varieties  of  apple  that  year,  whether  sprayed  or 
not,  were  practically  free  from  scab,  and  the  only  thing  gained  was  the 
knowledge  that  eau  celeste  of  the  strength  used  would  injure  the  apple. 

In  1889,  four  winesap  trees,  planted  in  1879,  were  sprayed  on  one 
side  with  eau  celeste,  and  three  other  winesap  trees  on  one  side  with  the 
Bordeaux  mixture.  [Formula  on  p.  495.]  The  spraying  was  done  June 
5th  and  i7th,  and  July  3d.  The  fruit  when  picked  was  divided  for  com- 
parison into  scabbed  and  not  scabbed,  all  those  being  put  in  the  latter 
list  that  were  so  free  from  scab  as  to  be  uninjured  for  market.  The  fol- 
lowing table  shows  comparative  results. 

Apples  from    •  Whole  number.  Not  scabbed.  Scabbed. 

sides  of  trees  sprayed  with  eau  celeste 148  61  78 

sides  of  same  trees  not  sprayed   .....133  12  121 

sides  of  frees  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture.  ...137  72  65 

sides  of  same  trees  not  sprayed 152  16  136 


1891.]  FUNGICIDES    UPON    THE    APPLE,  POTATO,  AND    GRAPE.  49 1 

There  were  not  only  more  good  apples  in  proportion  to  the  whole 
number  on  the  sprayed  sides  of  the  trees,  but  the  apples  picked  out  as 
not  scabbed  were  larger  on  the  side  sprayed  than  on  the  other. 

In  1890,  six  winesap  trees  were  sprayed  with  a  preparation  of  carbon- 
ate of  copper.  [Formula  on  p.  495.]  Four  winesap  trees  were  left 
unsprayed  as  checks.  The  spraying  was  done  May  2oth  and  June  i8th 
and  26th.  London  purple,  at  the  rate  of  i  Ib.  to  160  gall,  of  water,  was 
applied  with  the  fungicide  May  2oth.  It  has  been  reported  that  the 
application  of  London  purple  with  the  fungicides  is  more  likely  to  dam- 
age the  foliage  than  if  they  are  used  separately.  No  damage  coming 
from  the  spraying  was  noticed  in  this  case.  The  apple  crop  for  the  sea- 
son of  1890  was,  as  all  know,  almost  a  complete  failure.  The  six  trees 
sprayed  yielded  when  picked,  September  3oth,  58  Ib.  of  apples — less  than 
one  bushel;  and  the  trees  not  sprayed  yielded  12.9  pounds  of  apples — less 
than  ^  of  a  bushel.  Even  with  the  very  small  crop,  the  effect  of  spray- 
ing was  very  clearly  seen,  the  apples  from  the  sprayed  trees  being  more 
nearly  free  from  scab  and  averaging  much  larger.  Fifty-eight  apples 
from  the  sprayed  trees  were  equal  in  weight  to  100  from  the  trees  not 
sprayed. 

The  table  below  shows  results. 

Wt.  apples     Wt.  100  No.  apples  No.  apples  No.  apples 
produced.       apples.  produced,  not  scabby.  scabby. 
6    trees  sprayed  with  car- 
bonate of  copper 58    Ib.             15.1  Ib.         383  115  268 

4  trees  not  sprayed 12.9  Ib.             8.8  Ib.         147  2  145 

It  seems  desirable  in  this  connection  to  notice  the  work  of  others  in 
the  same  line. 

Some  work  done  in  1889  in  Wisconsin  under  the  direction  of  Pro- 
fessor E.  S.  Goff,  Horticulturist  of  the  Wisconsin  Experiment  Station, 
gave  excellent  results  with  the  preparation  of  carbonate  of  copper  and  very 
favorable  results  with  potassium  sulphide,  soda  hyposulphite,  sulphur 
powder,  and  liquid  sulphur  preparation.  The  carbonate  of  copper  gave 
so  much  more  favorable  results  than  either  of  the  others  that  Mr.  Goff 
seems  inclined  to  recommend  that  alone.  The  test  showed  that  of  the 
apples  sprayed  with  the  carbonate  of  copper  75  per  cent,  were  entirely 
free  from  scab,  while  of  the  apples  not  sprayed  23.3  per  cent,  only  were 
free  from  the  scab. 

In  a  similar  set  of  experiments  made  by  Professor  L.  R.  Taft,  Horti- 
culturist of  the  Michigan  Experiment  Station,  the  best  results  were 
obtained  from  the  use  of  a  modified  form  of  eau  celeste  [Formula  on 
P'  495~\>  though  results  nearly  as  favorable  were  obtained  from  the  use 
of  the  preparation  of  carbonate  of  copper.  In  Professor  Taft's  trials 
12.5  per  cent,  only  of  the  apples  on  the  trees  not  sprayed  were  free  from 
scab,  while  on  the  trees  sprayed  with  the  modified  eau  celeste  68.8  per 
•cent,  and  on  those  sprayed  with  carbonate  of  copper  51.2  per  cent,  of 
the  apples  were  entirely  free  from  scab.  : 


49 2  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February, 

The  Potato.  To  test  fungicides  on  potatoes  a  tract  of  10  rows  80 
ft.  long  was  used.  This  was  subdivided  so  that  the  plats  sprayed  each 
consisted  of  10  rows  20  ft.  long.  The  plats  lay  adjoining  each  other  and 
appeared  to  be  as  nearly  equal  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiment  as 
could  be  desired.  June  23d  and  July  5th,  plat  i  was  sprayed  with  the 
Bordeaux  mixture,  plat  2  with  eau  celeste,  and  the  third  plat  with  carbon- 
ate of  copper.  At  the  time  of  the  first  spraying  the  potato  vines  and 
leaves  were  perfectly  free  from  disease  but  they  began  to  show  it  within 
a  week,  and  within  three  weeks  most  of  the  leaves  were  dead. 

The  plat  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture  appeared  to  remain  green 
longer  than  the  rest,  while  the  plats  sprayed  with  the  other  two  prepara- 
tions showed  no  positive  results  until  time  of  digging  when  the 

Plat  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture  yielded 86^  Ib. 

Plat  sprayed  with  eau  celeste  yielded   66^  Ib. 

Plat  sprayed  with  carbonate  of  copper  yielded 68  j^  Ib. 

Plat  not  sprayed  yielded 33^  Ib. 

Although  the  yield  in  all  the  plats  is  small,  the  difference  between  the 
plat  not  sprayed  and  those  sprayed  is  very  marked. 

The  Grape.  The  Black  Rot  of  the  grape  is  by  far  the  worst  of  the 
American  vine  diseases,  though  these  are  very  numerous.  It  may  be  called 
the  rot  of  the  grape  berries  in  most  portions  of  our  country.  Though  it 
affects  both  leaf  and  fruit,  it  is  upon  the  latter  that  it  is  commonly  ob- 
served. As  in  the  case  of  the  scab  of  the  apple,  this,  too,  is  the  work  of 
a  parasitic  fungus  (Physalospora  Bidwellit),  but  a  widely  different  species 
from  that  previously  described.  The  extreme  outer  layers  only  of  cells 
are  killed  in  the  apple,  but  the  whole  substance  of  the  grape  is  destroyed. 
On  the  green  grape  berry  may  be  seen  at  first  a  minute  brown  point 
which  rapidly  enlarges  into  a  broad  brown  spot  sharply  bounded  by  the 
healthy  green  substance  of  the  fruit.  Within  a  few  days  time  the  small 
affected  area  enlarges  until  it  covers  a  half  or  more  of  the  berry,  which 
so  far  preserves  its  shape.  Soon,  however,  this  affected  part  shrinks,  the 
skin  becomes  wrinkled;  then  the  whole  berry  dries  up  into  an  irregularly 
angular,  and  comparatively  small  mass.  It  usually  adheres  a  long  time 
to  the  stem  with  perhaps  all  the  others  belonging  to  the  same  bunch  or 
cluster.  After  the  skin  has  become  considerably  wrinkled,  close  looking 
will  reveal  a  dusty,  white  powder  breaking  up  from  minute  openings  in  the 
shriveled  fruit.  This  dust  is  made  up  of  spores,  each  exceedingly  minute 
in  size  but  capable  of  starting  the  same  destruction  in  a  fresh  berry. 
Rains  and  dews  favor  the  development  of  the  rot,  because  the  spores  re- 
quire water  for  their  germination,  when  they  fall  from  the  wind  currents 
upon  the  skin  of  the  berries. 

On  the  leaves  the  fungus  is  found  in  small  dead  spots,  distributed 
over  which  may  be  seen  with  a  magnifier  little  darker  colored  pustules. 
From  these  latter  are  poured  forth  the  same  kind  of  minute  white  spores 
that  form  the  powdery  substance  on  the  rotting  berries.  However,  the 
vine  itself  does  not  usually  suffer  severely.  It  is  the  fruit  that  is  mostly 
affected. 


1891.]  FUNGICIDES    UPON    THE    APPLE,  POTATO,  AND    GRAPE.  493 

The  shriveled  berries  at  length  fall  to  the  ground  where  they  lie  dur- 
ing the  winter  and  spring,  and  in  them  during  this  time  another  kind  of 
spores  is  formed,  which  perpetuates  the  fungus  for  another  year's  destruc- 
tion. The  total  loss  of  grapes  in  our  country  by  this  disease  amounts  to 
a  great  proportion  on  the  average  of  the  whole  crop.  It  is  exceedingly 
fortunate  that  we  can  attain  so  much  of  success  in  combating  it  by  spray- 
ing. Testing  fungicides  for  black  rot  on  the  grape  was  begun  in  1888.  The 
vineyard  used  for  the  test  is  one  belonging  to  the  University  farm,  in  which 
the  fruit  had  several  times  been  badly  damaged  or  nearly  destroyed  by 
black  rot,  though  the  year  before  spraying  was  begun,  the  fruit  had  been 
almost  perfect,  there  being  so  little  rot  that  it  was  not  noticed. 

The  vineyard  is  on  a  flat  piece  of  ground,  not  well  drained;  it  con- 
tains about  i^  acres  in  14  rows.  Four  rows  were  sprayed  with  sulphide  of 
potassium  and  four  with  the  strong  eau  celeste,  the  same  as  first  used  on 
the  apples.  The  spraying  was  done  May  3ist,  June  25th,  and  July  g\h. 
The  grape  leaves  were  slightly  burned  by  the  application  of  eau  celeste. 
Some  more  than  half  the  grapes  rotted  on  all  the  vines,  whether  sprayed 
or  not  sprayed,  and  a  careful  estimate  of  results  the  latter  part  of  August, 
and  weighing  the  fruit  when  gathered,  failed  to  show  any  difference  that 
could  be  attributed  to  spraying. 

During  the  summer  of  1889,  the  four  rows  of  grapes  referred  to  above 
were  sprayed  with  the  eau  celeste  and  four  others  with  the  Bordeaux  mix- 
ture. The  spraying  was  done  May  2oth,  June  5th  and  ryth,  and  July  3d. 
The  grapes  began  rotting  by  the  5th  of  June,  and  the  rot  kept  spreading, 
almost  without  stopping,  until  the  few  grapes  left  were  beginning  to  turn. 
Many  of  the  vines  by  that  time  bore  no  perfect  fruit.  The  four  rows 
sprayed  with  the  Bordeaux  mixture  were  the  best,  bearing  38^  Ib.  of 
sound  berries,  but  no  perfect  bunches.  The  four  rows  sprayed  with  eau 
celeste  bore  27  Ib.  of  sound  berries.  The  six  rows  not  sprayed  bore  32^ 
Ib.  of  sound  berries.  The  percentage  of  grapes  rotted  was  not  estimated. 

In  1890,  summer-pruning  in  connection  with  spraying  was  tried: 

Two  rows  were  sprayed  with  the  Bordeaux  mixture  without  pruning. 

One  row  was  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture  and  kept  pruned  all 
summer. 

Two  rows  were  sprayed  with  eau  celeste  without  pruning. 

One  row  was  sprayed  with  eau  celeste  and  kept  pruned. 

Two  rows  were  sprayed  with  carbonate  of  copper. 

Two  rows  were  kept  pruned  and  not  sprayed. 

Four  rows  were  neither  pruned  nor  sprayed. 

The  spraying  was  done  May  2oth,  June  i8th  and  June  23d,  and  July 
5th. 

No  rot  was  found  on  the  grapes  by  the  examinations  made  up  to  June 
loth.  It  was  the  intention  to  spray  again  on  the  nth,  but  rains  prevented 
that  day,  and  for  several  succeeding  days.  A  careful  examination  made 
June  i;th  showed  that  at  least  half  the  berries  had  begun  to  rot,  the  dis- 
eased spots  varying  in  size  from  mere  points  to  spots  ^  in.  in  diameter. 


494  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February, 

The  number  of  grapes  rotting  continued  to  increase  after  the  spraying  of 
the  i8th,  and  a  few  apparently  started  to  rot  after  the  spraying  of  June 
23d.  The  rot  did  not  appear  to  spread  to  new  berries  during  July  or 
August,  but  a  few  second  crop  berries  rotted  during  the  damp  weather  of 
October. 

The  subjoined  table  of  results  indicates  that,  while  the  spraying  may 
not  be  a  specific,  it  is  at  least  a  partial  remedy  for  the  black  rot;  it  also 
shows  that  on  vines  kept  summer-pruned  and  sprayed,  the  grapes  rotted 
less  than  on  those  sprayed  and  not  pruned;  while  on  those  pruned  and 
not  sprayed  the  grapes  rotted  much  worse  than  on  those  neither  pruned 
nor  sprayed;  that  grapes  on  vines  not  cultivated,  the  weeds  being  occa- 
sionally mowed  off,  rotted  more  than  on  those  kept  clean  by  cultivation. 

Per  cent.,    Per  cent.,     Av.  yield  per 
rotted,         good,  vine, 

estimate,     estimate.  Ib. 

Two  rows  vines  not  sprayed  or  pruned 82.  18  1.14 

Two  rows  sprayed  with  Bordeaux,  not  pruned 67.5  32.5  39 

One  row  sprayed  with  Bordeaux,  pruned 43  57  4 

One  row  sprayed  with  eau  celeste,  pruned 55  45  3.05 

Two  rows  sprayed  with  eau  celeste,  not  pruned 63.5  36.5  2.67 

Two  rows  pruned,  not  sprayed 90  10  -53 

Two  rows  sprayed  with  carbonate  of   copper,   not 

pruned  or  cultivated  ...    84  16  .9 

Two  rows  not  sprayed,  pruned,  or  cultivated 93.5  6.5  .33 

The  place  in  which  the  carbonate  of  copper  was  used  does  not  give 
a  fair  test  of  its  efficiency  as  a  preventive. 

The  advantage  of  summer-pruning  vines  to  be  sprayed  seems  to  come 
from  the  greater  certainty  of  getting  the  fungicide  upon  the  berries.  Grapes 
pruned  and  not  sprayed  rot  worse  than  those  not  pruned  or  sprayed,  be- 
cause the  dew  forms  on  the  exposed  fruit  and  not  on  that  covered  over 
with  leaves,  the  dewdrops  affording  the  proper  condition  of  moisture  for 
the  growth  of  the  spores  of  the  rot.  The  berries  can  be  reached  properly 
by  the  spray  without  summer-pruning,  if  the  spray  nozzle  is  thrust  in 
among  the  vines  instead  of  being  held  on  the  outside.  The  pruning  of 
itself  does  harm  rather  than  good. 

As  a  result  of  the  work  done  here  it  is  recommended  that  vineyards 
be  kept  well  cultivated,  and  that  where  they  have  been  previously  subject 
to  black  rot  they  be  thoroughly  sprayed  with  the  Bordeaux  mixture  or 
with  eau  celeste  as  often  as  the  season  may  demand.  If  the  season  con- 
tinues dry  all  the  time,  there  is  little  chance  for  the  rot  to  develop;  but  a 
spell  of  warm,  rainy  weather,  coming  at  any  time  from  the  setting  of  the 
fruit  to  the  time  of  ripening,  may  start  the  disease  into  active  work.  The 
disease  cannot  be  cured  but  must  be  prevented.  The  first  spraying  may 
be  done  in  the  spring  as  soon  as  the  first  leaves  are  developed,  and  it  is 
commonly  recommended  to  repeat  it  three  to  six  times. 

The  Bordeaux  mixture  leaves  a  greenish  sediment  on  the  fruit,  and 
when  applied  in  large  amount  or  late  in  the  season,  injures  it  either  for 
market  or  home  use.  The  sediment  may  be  removed  by  dipping  the  ber- 
ries in  a  wash  made  of  one  quart  of  cider  vinegar  to  five  gallons  of  water. 
The  other  fungicides  leave  no  apparent  sediment  on  the  fruit. 


1891.]  FUNGICIDES    UPON   THE    APPLE,  POTATO,  AND    GRAPE.  495 

The  work  done  at  other  places,  and  especially  that  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  has  been  so  successful  that 
there  is  no  room  to  doubt  the  profitableness  of  spraying  grape  vines  when 
they  are  infested  with  either  the  black  rot  or  downy  mildew.  In  a  recent 
report  issued  by  the  Department  [Journal  of  Mycology,  Vol.  VI.,  No.  j]  is 
given  an  account  of  an  experiment  in  spraying,  in  which  a  vineyard,  so 
badly  infested  that  it  had  been  abandoned  for  five  years,  after  being 
pruned  and  cleaned  up,  was  divided  into  five  plats,  four  of  which  were 
treated  with  different  fungicides  and  the  fifth  left  as  a  check. 

On  plat. one,  sprayed  eight  times  with  Bordeaux  mixture,  99.2  per 
cent,  of  the  crop  was  saved. 

On  plat  two,  sprayed  eight  times  with  ammoniacal  carbonate  of  cop- 
per, 97.5  per  cent,  of  the  crop  was  saved. 

On  plat  three,  sprayed  eight  times  with  carbonate  of  copper  in  sus- 
pension, 93.64  per  cent,  of  the  crop  was  saved. 

On  plat  four,  sprayed  three  times  with  ammoniacal  carbonate  of 
copper,  97.27  per  cent,  of  the  crop  was  saved. 

On  plat  five,  which  received  no  preventive  treatment,  not  a  single 
bunch  was  produced  which  was  fit  for  market. 

Reports  nearly  as  favorable  come  from  several  other  sources.  It 
would  appear  from  all  accounts  that  to  attain  satisfactory  results  per- 
sistent application  is  necessary. 

Formulas.  The  following  formulas  for  fungicides  are  taken  from  the 
Horticulturists'  Rule  Book,  edited  by  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey: 

Ammoniacal  carbonate  of  copper.  Into  a  vessel  having  a  capacity  of  2  qt.  or  more, 
put  one  qt.  of  commercial  ammonia  (strength  22  °  Baume);  add  3  oz.  carbonate  of  copper; 
stir  rapidly  for  a  moment  and  the  carbonate  of  copper  will  dissolve  in  the  ammonia,  form- 
ing a  very  clear  liquid.  This  concentrated  liquid  may  be  kept  indefinitely.  For  use, 
dilute  to  22  gall. 

Bordeaux  mixture.  Dissolve  6  Ib.  of  sulphate  of  copper  in  16  gall,  of  water.  In 
another  vessel  slake  4  Ib.  of  quick  lime  in  6  gall,  of  water.  When  the  latter  mixture  has 
cooled  pour  slowly  into  the  copper  solution,  care  being  taken  to  mix  the  fluids  thoroughly 
by  constant  stirring.  Prepare  some  days  before  using.  Stir  before  applying. 

Eau  celeste.  Dissolve  one  pound  of  sulphate  of  copper  in  2  gall,  of  water.  When 
completely  dissolved  and  the  water  has  cooled  add  i^  pt.  of  commercial  ammonia 
When  ready  to  use  dilute  to  22  gall. 

A  second  method  of  preparing  eau  celeste:  Dissolve  I  Ib.  of  sulphate  of  copper  in 
2  gall,  of  water.  In  another  vessel  dissolve  I  Ib.  of  carbonate  of  soda.  Mix  the  two 
solutions,  and  when  chemical  action  has  ceased  add  lj£  pt.  of, commercial  ammonia. 
For  use,  dilute  to  22  gall.  A  modification  of  this  latter  method  is  2  Ib.  sulphate  of  cop- 
per, 2^£  Ib.  carbonate  of  soda,  and  iyz  pt.  of  commercial  ammonia,  prepared  as  before. 

The  Bordeaux  mixture  is  more  difficult  to  use  than  either  of  the 
others,  and  in  the  hands  of  some  of  our  best  experimenters,  has  given 
little,  if  any  better  results. 

Machines.  For  spraying  in  a  small  way  some  one  of  the  forms  of  knap- 
sack pumps  is  most  convenient.  For  work  on  a  larger  scale,  a  machine 
mounted  on  wheels  is  better.  We  have  been  using  the  past  year  the 


496  BULLETIN  NO.  15.  [February,  1891. 

Eureka  sprayer,  and  it  has  given  excellent  satisfaction.     Good  machines 
may  be  found  advertised  in  almost  any  agricultural  or  horticultural  paper. 

GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS. 

» 

The  various  compounds  of  copper  offer  efficient  protection  to  many- 
cultivated  crops  against  the  exceedingly  destructive  ravages  of  fungous 
parasites.  Without  treatment,  these  rots,  rusts,  mildews,  and  blights 
frequently  destroy  a  large  proportion  of,  or  even  the  entire,  products  of 
fields  and  fruit  plantations.  The  applications  in  the  shape  of  watery 
sprays  are  made  so  readily  and  with  so  little  expense  in  money  and  labor 
that  every  one  interested  should  at  once  undertake  the  work.  The  prac- 
tical results  already  attained,  constitute  the  greatest  advance  made  in  re- 
cent times  in  the  application  of  science  to  horticulture.  A  little  well- 
directed  effort  may  be  confidently  expected  to  return  a  hundred,  or  a 
thousand  times  its  cost.  Still  there  is  need  for  much  vigilance  and  care- 
ful attention  to  every  detail.  Mistakes  may  be  made  even  then,  and 
sometimes  failures  may  occur  for  which  existing  knowledge  may  offer  no 
explanation.  But  we  should  persevere,  gain  all  possible  information  upon 
the  subject,  and  watch  well  the  effects  in  every  test.  In  this  way,  every 
one  may  hope  to  conquer,  practically,  these  insidious  and,  heretofore, 
invincible  foes. 

If  the  readers  of  this  paper  desire  further  information  concerning 
the  subject,  write  to  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  Champaign, 

Illinois. 

T.  J.  BURRILL,  PH.  D.,  Horticulturist  and  Botanist. 

.  G.  W.  McCLUER,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Horticulturist. 


All  communications  intended  for  the  Station  should  be  addressed,, 
not  to  any  person,  but  to  the 

AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION,  CHAMPAIGN,  ILLINOIS. 

The  bulletins  of   the  Experiment  Station  will  be  sent  free  of  all 
charges  to  persons  engaged  in  farming  who  may  request  that  they  be  sent. 

SELIM  H.  PEABODY, 

President  Board  of  Direction* 


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